We take the grunt out of decision-making so

that leaders can lead

Ambitious leaders have clear aspirations for greater impact and value. They can see a vision of how their organisation can do more for customers, members, and the communities they serve. These leaders know where they want to go, but the journey from vision to reality requires decisions made with clarity and confidence.


Even with strong leadership teams and deep community connections, these leaders often face challenges when turning ambition into reality. That's where we can help.

Four common challenges to confident decision-making:


  1. Competing priorities spreading attention too thin
  2. Not enough people with the right skills to do the deep analysis needed
  3. Boards and executives holding back when they don't have clear facts to support their choices
  4. Strategies that haven't been translated to practical, doable plans

Strategy

From review to new strategy development, we help our clients assess their context and capabilities to chart a course to fulfil their purpose, ambitions, and goals. 




Planning

From projects to transformations, we work as part of the team to map out the details of the journey ahead; with deep experience from building the business case to readying for mobilisation, we help to accelerate progress and navigate the ‘gotchas’.

Transition

From program reviews to transformation, we have the experience to calibrate and guide the execution of change; we have helped clients reassess the alignment of execution direction and strategic goals, streamline execution, and focus scarce resources on the most impactful initiatives.

Problems we help clients with.

  • Strategy advice and decision support

    Do you need to make a decision, or recommend one to the board, but don’t have the capacity to pull the case together? 


    Is your business performance not as expected but don’t know why and need help to probe some options? 


    Is recent change forcing a re-think of your strategy or underlying assumptions, but need an independent perspective?


  • Transformation design and planning

    Have you set a new strategy but aren’t sure what the implications are for your business capabilities?


    Do you need the case for business change or transformation to be clearly articulated for discussion with the board?


    A new strategic direction has been set, but you need a blueprint of the business future state to drive strategic initiatives?


  • Business performance improvement

    Do you need an independent assessment of business performance against plan or expectations?


    You know that there are opportunities to improve business performance, but need it articulated to weigh the options for investment?


    Do you need an independent review of change initiatives to identify practical optimisation opportunities?


Examples of how we have helped clients achieve their goals.

Strategy to execution plan for a mutual bank

The 5-year strategy for a mutual bank had run its course - it was time to develop a fresh strategy that reflected the bank's strengths and legacy in the context of changing conditions. 


The Polaris team worked with the bank's board and executive team to refresh its strategic direction based on a robust diagnosis of the bank's situation and capabilities. With the strategy set, we then worked with the executive team to translate this to a practical plan to realise the bank's objectives and purpose. 


As a result, the board and executive team were clearer about their shared vision, the initiatives to focus resources on, and the bank's priorities. 

Customer survey to validate strategy for a mutual bank

A mutual bank needed to validate assumptions behind their refreshed strategy before investing in initiatives to pursue their ambitious growth targets. They needed deeper insights into the unique dynamics of their community than conventional research methods could provide.


Polaris deployed conversational AI technology that combined robust quantitative analysis with rich qualitative understanding, delivering insights previously only available through resource-intensive interviews. We mapped findings directly to strategic implications, revealing crucial insights about key influences on banking decisions, such as family and career transition.


As a result, the bank gained strategic clarity, actionable product development opportunities, and reduced investment risk. As their CEO noted, "The insights are of very high quality... For us, it's now about acting on these insights."

Strategy development and planning for professional member association

A steady decline in member numbers was affecting financial sustainability; what strategies should be deployed to reverse the trend?


Polaris took a pragmatic approach to developing the strategy, collaborating closely with the board and executive team. This involved diagnosing the core challenge to reduce the scope and complexity of the issues, then working with the board and executive to define strategies and a roadmap, and, finally, recommending practical actions to stabilise financial performance and establish a foundation for growth. Polaris also helped to design a top-down organisation structure that streamlined business operations and brought together capabilities for greater community impact.

Commercialisation review for education business of professional member association

A new product had been designed and deployed, but traction was slower than expected; what could the leadership team do to grow into an opportunity they knew was there?


Polaris took a fact-based approach to rapidly identify and size market segments, assess needs and trends affecting the opportunity, recommend segment prioritisation, and develop an analysis of required capabilities. By conducting a self-assessment survey with the client, the team also helped gauge key capabilities gaps so that investment could be directed to drive impact. The approach and insights from the project not only helped the client team pivot to a clear market (with immediate results) but also led to a broader assessment of ‘where to play’ for the organisation.

How we are different

When you engage Polaris, you'll notice that we start by focusing on you, your aspirations, and the challenges you face in achieving them. We work out how we can complement you and your team. Then we get to work.


We know our clients are smart and know their stuff. We're here to add our own knowledge to the mix, so together, we can achieve even more.


And because we have a breadth of expertise, from strategy to transformation to technology, our clients benefit from a coherent view from goals to operational implications.


But what we're really good at is remaining focused on finding the most practical path to resolve our client's core challenge. This is where our pragmatic approach and experience sets us apart from the one-size formulas you may find elsewhere.


Our clients tell us that our curiosity, authenticity, rigour, and focus on impact also make a difference. We hope you'd agree, since these are our values.


In a world full of same-same advice, we aim to be refreshingly different.

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