Building audacious strategies

for social good organizations that WORK.

Most of us have experienced a well-intentioned – maybe even brilliant – strategic plan that molders in an archived folder, or an inspirational descriptor of organizational values that no one can remember, let alone express in their daily work.

What makes the difference?

The Audaculus Philosophy

  • Brilliant ideas and good intentions aren’t enough.

    Audaculus understands how to organize the big hearts and passionate energy of employees at mission-driven organizations into a sustainable work culture with efficient and effective systems.

  • Your solutions must be as unique as your organization is.

    The challenge is figuring out what’s best for your specific organization at this specific moment in time. Audaculus asks questions, listens, and asks for feedback. We work with you to arrive at solutions that are as unique as your organization.

  • Success depends on shaping people’s daily actions.

    A brilliant vision will fail if it doesn’t guide the daily behaviors and decisions of the folks doing the work. Audaculous helps you convert your beautiful vision into specific, measurable actions with processes and system to prevent drifting.

How We Can Help

Designing a customized, well-crafted vision

  • Example: A large safety-net health care provider had a new CEO who wanted to build the Board’s capacity as a strategic partner, so the planning process focused on deep Board learning and lots of input. Six years later, the organization was facing significant operational challenges so the planning process focused on internally-identified needs: systems and processes, staff skills, operational structure, and morale. In 2020, the impending election created dazzling uncertainty; the planning process shifted to define key strategic values that would guide decision-making in the face of either a loss of 80% of funding… or a significant reimbursement rate increase.

  • Example: Sex Ed To-Go was born from necessity: sex education was one of the first topics cut from curriculum during the pandemic. We built a rapid prototype and then tested it with in-depth teacher interviews and focus groups, and built a professional advisory board made up of power players across the industry. The result? Over 15,000 users around the country and world have enrolled almost 50,000 times Sex Ed To-Go courses.

  • Example: In a rare moment of political and financial stability, the Planned Parenthood Board wanted to think strategically about its role as a safety-net health care provider in a post-pandemic world. We built a “learning salon” syllabus executed over multiple months that provided targeted, accessible data and discussion questions about the changing landscape: our patients’ and our staff’s changing needs and expectations, our region’s shifting environment, the evolving healthcare landscape, and emerging political and social trends.

  • Example: The Board of a major metropolitan planning agency was struggling with conflict and lack of trust among members. Working with the Chair and staff, we developed goals and content for two Board retreats and facilitated complex conversations to build connections across political affiliations and with staff, identify areas of agreement, create shared language, and inspire regional and transformational thinking.

Defining clear expectations for what the vision looks like in daily work, and ensuring the skills to deliver

  • Example: The CEO of a large foundation had a clear strategy and wanted to develop a cohesive and inspirational vision for culture to support his plans and ensure what was great about the current organization wasn’t lost with rapid growth. Working collaboratively with the senior leaders and all staff, we defined an aspirational-but-realistic culture and then built behavior expectations into staff’s daily work.

  • Example: A major political leader had a relatively new team and big goals. Together, we documented her priorities in an easy-to-use format to provide focus for her team. Then we set team agreements backed up by a portfolio of tangible tools and processes to support expectations: message maps, follow-up briefs, time management maps, etc.

Creating systems and processes to prevent drifting

  • Example: A C-level executive led multiple meetings each week with his colleagues and direct reports but they weren’t getting the results he wanted. We redesigned and streamlined his meetings to focus on strategic priorities, accountability, information sharing, and culture reinforcement through standardized agendas, reports, question prompts, and use of asynchronous tools.

  • Example: The Board of a large health care provider represented the people of San Diego, Riverside and Imperial Counties, but most of its Board member were from central and coastal San Diego County. We designed a process to move to a more regionally representative Board through tangible changes in where and how often the Board met, recruitment criteria and processes, and Board agenda topics.