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The Systems Thinking Approach® to
Strategic Management Workshop 

The International Association for Strategy Professionals (IASP) Exam Prep Workshop

Take the original IASP exam prep workshop! Taught by one of the IASP Pioneers! 

This workshop is recognized by the IASP as an exam prep course for SPP and SMP certification examinations.

The workshop is led by IASP Pioneer, Valerie MacLeod, SMP, who was on the team that wrote the original exam questions!

Valerie has also written over two-hundred sample exam questions based upon IASP's BOK 3.0 and her experience for this workshop!

Why attend this workshop:

If you are interested in certification with IASP for the SPP or SMP exams, this workshop is for you.

If you are interested in learning a systems thinking based approach to strategic planning and execution, this workshop is for you. 

This workshop will teach you our Systems Thinking Approach® to Strategic Management and help prepare you for writing the SPP or SMP exam through lectures, group discussions, live instructor feedback, eBook Reinventing Strategic Planning: The Systems Thinking Approach®, participant materials including Haines Centre models, connection with instructors between sessions, access to all recorded sessions shortly after each live online session and for six months after, shared case application and discussion and sample questions.

REGISTER FOR THE WEBINAR SERIES: THE SYSTEMS THINKING APPROACH® TO STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT!

Who should attend:

  • Strategy professionals who are striving for IASP certification at either the SPP or SMP level

  • Strategy professionals who want to learn The Systems Thinking Approach® to strategic planning and execution to make strategic planning actually strategic

  • Strategy professionals who want to "up" their skills in Systems Thinking, strategic planning, plan creation & execution, and how to strategically management throughout the year

  • Strategic planners who are interested in facilitating and leading the strategic planning process in their organization

  • Strategy professionals who want to gain an in-depth knowledge and certification in The Systems Thinking Approach® to Strategic Management this is the first of three steps to achieve Gold Mastery in Strategic Management

  • Strategy professionals who are interested in facilitating and leading The Systems Thinking Approach® to Strategic Management as an independent consultant this is the beginning of a mutually beneficial relationship

  • Strategic professionals who want to learn from an multicultural, gender inclusive global network that has been practicing around the globe for over 30 years

  • Employees and leaders in private, public and non-profit organizations

  • Anyone who wants to learn from an IASP Pioneer. Valerie MacLeod, SMP was part of a group of 24 planning professionals who created the IASP Standards, Certification Process and examinations.

This workshop has been approved by IASP as a certified preparation workshop for their SPP and SMP exams.

Course ID: 16786484

NOTE: Receive double credits for this workshop by applying to IASP up to December 31, 2026

About The Systems Thinking Approach® to Strategic Management
Workshop:

A simple and profound method for strategic and operational planning and execution. Based upon The Systems Thinking Approach®.

Learn our Systems Thinking-based 10-step model for Strategic Management.

Master a practical way to create more successful strategic plans that integrate risk into strategy development. Plans with  built-in strategic agility, which will achieve superior results and have higher employee adoption.

Learn how to apply strategic thinking as a foundation for business sustainability.

Following our pragmatic 10-step Strategic Management model allows you to integrate risk, governance and strategy into a single management and reporting system that everyone can understand.

Create develop implement-able, successful strategic plans. 

Five live webinar sessions are taught by IASP Pioneer, Valerie MacLeod, SMP.

The workshop has been updated to IASP's BOK 3.0.

Attending all five sessions will help prepare you for IASP's SPP and SMP exams. Each session is 3.5 - 4 hours in length.

We include four areas in our Strategic Management Process that are virtually ignored by the competition:

  1. Preparing to Begin - What do you need to do BEFORE you plan to ensure the planning runs successfully? Who should be involved on the planning team? What process are you using? What's the commitment level? Who will supporting us?

  2. Involving Key Others - You can't have everyone on the planning team, so who else needs to support the plan's implementation & how do we involve them?

  3. Preparing to Implement - What needs to be in place so that the plan can be successfully executed? How do we rally support? How do we keep the plan vital?

  4. Mitigating risk - Are you confident in the board's and leadership's risk understanding? Can managing risk be cascaded to operational levels?

Fit between IASP Strategy System Activity Groups and Our Strategic Management model

IASP's Strategy System Activity Groups and The Haines Centre's Strategic Management model correspond beautifully.

They are both Systems Thinking Approaches. 

 

More about The Systems Thinking Approach® to Strategic Management Workshop:

Strategic Thinking 

Understand Systems Thinking - a powerful tool for all aspects of your life.

Learn how to apply The Systems Thinking Approach® - it will change how you manage your business, your people & your life. 

Topics include:

Strategic and Systems Thinking

Understanding systems

Levels of living systems

The Systems Thinking Approach®

Role of Strategic Planning Professionals in planning, leading, facilitating, executing and governing a strategic management process

Application to case study and your personal case 

Questions or comments

Sample exam questions

Strategic 
Management

Learn how to strategically manage your organization throughout the year. Develop an agile strategic management system to guide decisions throughout the year.

 

Topics include:

Strategic planning vs. Strategic Management

Goals of Strategic Management

Our Strategic Management Approach

Premises of Strategic Management

Application to case study and your personal case 

Questions or comments

Sample exam questions

Prepare to Begin

Give yourself an advantage by preparing the people and organization for the best planning outcomes.

The Strategic Management Process helps you manage strategically throughout the year with our annual cycle.

Topics include:

Prepare to Begin tasks - how to educate, assess, organize and tailor for the Strategic Management process

Top 12 Most Common Mistakes in Strategic Planning

Planning team membership & roles

Support team & SMEs responsibilities

Application to case study and your personal case

Questions or comments

Sample exam questions

Future Environmental Scan

The Strategic Management Process ensures success by looking outside yourself to develop proactive strategies for handling changes in the external environment,  managing risk and building strategic foresight.

Topics include:

Future environmental scanning using our SKEPTIC model

Trend analysis

Risk management

Scenario planning

Application to case study and your personal case

Questions or comments

Sample exam questions

Parallel Stakeholder Involvement

Our Parallel Stakeholder Engagement process involves key stakeholders to create a superior plan and ensure successful implementation of that plan. 

Reduce resistance, build allies and diminish unintended consequences through involving stakeholders who are crucial to the execution of your plan.

Topics include:

Key stakeholder assessment

Parallel Involvement process - who, how & when to include key stakeholders

Application to case study and your personal case

Questions or comments

Sample exam questions

Envision the Ideal Future

Create clarity for where you are going. Picture what your organization looks like when you are wildly successful and discover your positioning in your customer's eyes. 

Align employees, board and key stakeholders behind a shared and understood strategic direction.

Topics include:

Creating a shared vision

Mission driving behavior

Core values and culture

World-class positioning

Rallying cry

Application to case study and your personal case

Questions or comments

Sample exam questions

Define Key Measures of Success

Measure what's important, not what's easy! Learn how to measure progress towards your organizational goals.

Topics include:

Key success measures

Quadruple bottom line

Tracking & reporting

Application to case study and your personal case

Questions or comments

Sample exam questions

Assess the Current State

Traditional planning processes begin at current state, which is not a Systems Thinking approach. We assess our current situation in the context of the future we desire to obtain.

Topics include:

 

Where, when and how to gather information for assessing where we are now

Assess the current state using SWOT 2.0

Organization and strategic capabilities

Application to case study and your personal case

Questions or comments

Sample exam questions

Develop Core Strategies

Develop high level strategies to bridge the gap between where we are and where we want to go.

 

Topics include:

Addressing the gap through core strategies

Linking strategies to measures

Strategic alignment

Strategic action items under core strategies

Rolling planning

Application to case study and your personal case

Questions or comments

Sample exam questions

Formulate Strategic and Annual Plans

Build practical strategic and operational plans that are tied to the long term strategy.

Strategy driving budgets, NOT budgets driving strategy - learn how to integrate your existing budgeting process so that it supports your plan.

Topics include:

Three-year business/ operational planning

Cascade of planning

Annual planning

Strategic budgets

Individual planning

Simplicity in planning 

Application to case study and your personal case

Questions or comments

Sample exam questions

Ensure Successful Transformation

Strategic plans are just words on paper (or a screen) unless they are implemented. Learn what to do BEFORE you execute your plan to ensure your achieve your goals.

Icebergs & Rollercoasters, what do they have to do with carrying out your plan? Two powerful models to ensure successful change management.

Topics include:

Change vs. transition

Prepare to Implement tasks: Educate, assess, organize and tailor for successful management of upcoming change

Iceberg of Change: Content, processes, structures and culture to support change

Aligning the operating model with the strategy

Rollercoaster of Change: Managing yourself and others through change

Roles of leaders and staff during change

Change management/ transformation plan

Communication planning

Application to case study and your personal case

Questions or comments

Sample exam questions

Strategy Implementation

Managing strategically isn't a single event. How to keep the momentum going throughout the year through a Strategic Management System.

Learn how to make sure you are working your plan every day & every year.

Topics include:

Annual strategic management system

Regular monitoring meetings for flexibility and speed

Implementation challenges

Annual strategic review and update

Effective governance

Strategic Management failures

Facilitation hints and tools

Application to case study and your personal case

Questions or comments

Sample exam questions

What else is included:

  • Live online instruction led by SMP and IASP Pioneer, Valerie MacLeod

  • eBook Reinventing Strategic Planning: The Systems Thinking Approach® ($50 USD value)

  • IASP certification exam prep (SPP and SMP)

  • Shared case study to apply and discuss concepts 

  • Live group discussions of concepts and application

  • Facilitation hints

  • Access to recordings after each session

  • Access to all recordings from sessions for 6 months

  • Concepts you can use daily to manage strategically

  • Live interaction with instructors throughout each webinar

  • Access to instructors between sessions

  • The Systems Thinking Approach® materials and models

  • Materials updated to IASP's BOK 3.0

  • 200+ sample exam questions created for this workshop

The Systems Thinking Approach® to
Strategic Management
- IASP Special Version 

$2,495 USD + GST ($3,395 CDN + GST)

Five live webinar sessions (3.5 - 4 hours each):

North America: Online October 21, 22, 23, 28 & 30, 2025 at 1pm Eastern

1 pm Eastern, 12 pm Central, 11 am Mountain, 10 am Pacific

Included: Recordings of live online sessions for six months

 

SPECIAL FOR AUSTRALIA AND EASTERN ASIA:

Online August 19, 20, 21, 26 & 28, 2025

9 am AEST and 8:30 am ACST (North America: 7 pm EDT the previous evening)

The Australia and Eastern Asia sessions will be co-led by Dr. Lewis Atkinson. Dr. Atkinson is a unique innovation and design thinking professional and international Strategic Management facilitator and consultant based in Brisbane, Australia. He has 30 years’ experience in knowledge production & transfer through both commercial and public-good innovation pathways to market.

Included: Recordings of live online sessions for six months

REGISTER FOR THE WEBINAR SERIES: THE SYSTEMS THINKING APPROACH® TO STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT!

If you cannot attend this webinar, our next workshops are:

TBD

Our Guarantee

After attending the first webinar session if you are unsatisfied we will refund your money.

No questions asked!

 

What people are saying...

"Before I had this training, strategic planning was just a couple of buzz words with little meaning. Now I know exactly what N1 needs to do to really implement strategic planning" - Wayne W, Navy N1

"These sessions have been a tremendous help to a somewhat seasoned education leader in a new organization undergoing tremendous and difficult change on many fronts - including my leadership. This learning helps me to reflect on and understand the big picture of what this school is going through; organize my insights about strengths and weaknesses; and, most importantly, provide the tools and strategies I need to facilitate transition." - Dawna H, SD School District

The Systems Thinking Approach®

This workshop, like all of our workshops, is based upon The Systems Thinking Approach®.

At the Haines Centre, we have operationalized over 50 years of scientific research started by Ludwig von Bertalanffy (the father of General Systems Theory) and many other world-renown systems theorists, including the Society for General Systems Research into The Systems Thinking Approach®. 

Our Key Strengths are: 

 

innovation 

"leverage knowledge to secure traction for innovation solutions in the organization"

 

vision

"champion new insights with key stakeholders to view issues from different perspectives"

 

integration

"engage and build relationships to create sustainable collaborative partnerships"

 

facilitation

"facilitate safe environments for self-reflection and learning in the organization"

If you want to distinguish yourself from your peers
as a strategic professional 

If you want to be more strategic and manage risk

If you want to lead people more effectively

If you want to lead successful planning within your organization

If you want to feel a sense of accomplishment 

If you want to pass the IASP SPP or SMP exams

 

Valerie

 

JOIN US

Tailored workshops

This program can be tailored to your organization's needs and delivered exclusively to your people.

This customized version can be delivered live-online or in-person.

Some of the many benefits of bringing the workshop in-house is the language is tailored to your organization's terminology, participants can discuss specifics of your situation in confidence, and they can develop draft versions of your org's operational plans and strategic plan during the workshop.

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