Jackie answers questions about SOAR

Why we wrote the book

Gina and I have been working with the SOAR framework and the 5-I approach for almost a decade now.  SOAR has been published in a few journals and some book chapters, plus we did a lot of presentations throughout the country on its meaning and applications. We constantly receive requests for more information on what is SOAR, why use SOAR, how to use SOAR, etc.

Basically, the purpose of the book is to introduce the concept of SOAR (what, how, when and why to use SOAR), share illustrations of successful applications of SOAR, and suggestions to get started using SOAR.

The reader should be able to get some ideas of how to apply SOAR after reading a “thin book”  As one of our reviewers stated The Thin Book of SOAR lights a spark to try it but the level of application will depend if the reader knows about strategy, appreciative inquiry (AI), whole systems, etc … 

Who the Book is for

A major theme of our book is that strategy is everyone’s job just not top management.  The audience is broad but a primary audience is organizational leaders at every level should understand this philosophy and make it part of everyone’s job.   Each chapter includes illustrations of SOAR in the for-profit, non-profit, social, and governmental sectors.  The final chapter is our invitation to you to try SOAR, and we share several more snapshot illustrations of how SOAR is being used in strategic conversations, strategy sessions, and strategic planning with a variety of stakeholders.

We selected Thin Book Publishing because we wanted to write a “thin book” that can have a broad appeal and multiple audiences.  If you visit the website Thin Book Publishing has done a lot of really neat books like one on trust and appreciative inquiry. 

SOAR is written for any organizational stakeholder who wishes to broaden his or her understanding of how to create strategy and strategic plans that lead from a strengths-based whole system approach. Those who are new to these concepts may find the entire thin book useful. Experienced business leaders and managers will find the book as a new twist from traditional SWOT analysis to SOAR. This book is the first published book on SOAR.  Otherwise, there are only a handful of book chapters and articles.  At the broadest level this book is designed for those interested in a new way to do strategic thinking, planning, and execution. 

Another audience is graduate students who can use the book as  a supplement to the strategy textbooks in the 2000 plus MBA programs taught in the world and other graduate programs where students are enrolled in OD, change, and related programs.

Other audiences include: staff, managers, executives, consultants, social entrepreneurs, and leaders who are looking for ways to transform whole organizations and communities. In today’s dynamic business environment, they must know how to introduce, formulate, plan and execute strategy successfully if they are to realize their visions for organization improvement.

What Readers can hope to achieve.

We hope readers will have the confidence and willingness to try the SOAR approach to strategy in their lives and with their organizations.  As the introduction to the book says:

"This Thin Book is about a strengths-based approach to strategic planning that allows an organization to plan for and create its future through collaboration, shared understanding, and a commitment to action. This approach is represented by the acronym SOAR which stands for Strengths, Opportunities, Aspirations, and Results.

One of the fundamental differences between SOAR and more traditional strategic planning models is that broad representations of stakeholders are invited into the SOAR process.  Stakeholders are the people who maintain an interest in the organization’s success or failure. SOAR engages the stakeholders directly in a series of conversations to identify and analyze strengths and opportunities, in order to create collective aspirations, goals, strategies, and commitment to achieving results. While every stakeholder may not be able to participate, each stakeholder group can be represented in order to:

• Identify and build on strengths
• Connect to and clarify the organization’s value set, vision, and mission
• Discover potential profitable opportunities
• Determine and align organizational goals and objectives
• Implement the plan so it guides everyday decision making and actions

While SOAR is a strategic planning framework that can be used in conversations or in an organization-wide change process, this book is not a detailed text on strategy. But we believe strategy is everyone’s job. A deep understanding of strategic planning will not be needed to use SOAR. We focus on the practical application that will help you use SOAR to develop a future course of action plan at any level to see how it generates the energy to carry out the plan."

After reading the Thin Book of SOAR – we don’t think anyone can be an expert on strategy or strategic change using SOAR. But, as the reader comments echoed there is a lot to think about and new ways of approach strategy and there is enough information in this book to give it a try. It will depend on the level of experience of the individual reading the book just how much they can do.