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The PRIMES

Problem-solving has a language of its own, and anyone can learn it. We believe that there are patterns of behaviors that show up whenever groups of people gather. These patterns are simple and consistent, unchanged by time or societal evolution.

One of our firm’s founder, Chris McGoff, compiled these patterns into a book called The PRIMES: How Any Group Can Solve Any Problem. Groups and leaders can use The PRIMES as a shared language to effectively communicate and solve problems. Below you can see examples of how The PRIMES come to life.

The POWER PRIME

Our approach includes empowering groups to take on transformation.
The POWER PRIME is a framework that encompasses the steps to align groups to ultimately reach their outcomes. The three main components for groups to achieve POWER include:

  • Creating a Shared Perspective of the problem and opportunity.
  • Developing a Shared Intent to realize common objectives.
  • Establishing and executing Coordinated Action to achieve and measure results.

Shared Perspective

Stakeholders often think their own perspective is the right one, and teams are lost in a sea of information, unable to make sense of it.
What’s needed is a SHARED PERSPECTIVE of the problem or opportunity. We help you create that common view so your teams can move forward powerfully from the same point of view by aligning different perspectives and bringing the right information forward.

Shared Intent

Once leaders understand the problem, key stakeholders must align on where they need to go and how to get there. Fragmentation and conflicting agendas or priorities often inhibit progress. More importantly, team members do not understand what’s at stake if progress is not made. We use CORE PRIME to reach a shared intent by having 5 conversations around the AS IS, ENVIRONMENT, STAKE, TO BE, and STRATEGY. High-performing teams have and continually maintain alignment on all 5 of these conversations.

Coordinated Action

We enable you to reach and execute a coordinated action through a series of REDPOINTs (a project management tool) that include the fewest, most important initiatives required to reach your outcome. A project within a REDPOINT lasts between eight and twelve months and ends on a fixed declared date. The shorter duration of a REDPOINT allows groups to build trust through incremental success. After achieving several quick wins, the momentum is in a group’s favor, and transformation becomes possible.