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This survey seeks to understand the causes of success or failure in a business initiative. Please answer the following questions, to the best of your ability, thinking about one business initiative in which you've been involved at an executive level.

Estimated completion time: 8-10 minutes.

First Name

Last Name

Email *

What best describes your role in the organization?

Select an option

Company

City

State

Website

Primary Industry

Company Size (employees)

Select an option

Instructions

Please think about a recent business initiative, growth initiative, transformation effort, marketing initiative, sales initiative, expansion effort or strategic program.

What type initiative was it (primarily)?

Growth initiative

Marketing initiative

Sales initiative

Digital transformation

Product launch

Operational improvement

Expansion initiative

Customer acquisition initiative

Strategic repositioning

Other

What was the intended objective?

On a scale of 1 to 10, how successful was this initiative in achieving its intended business objectives?

Completely unsuccessfulCompletely successful

How would you describe the outcome of the initiative at this point in time?

Successful and sustainable

Partially successful

Increasingly difficult to sustain

Operationally fragmented

Still uncertain

Underperforming expectations

Stalled

Failed or discontinued

Additional comments:

Which of the following, if any, describe external impediments to the success of the initiative?

Customer response weakened over time

Differentiation became less clear

Growth became harder to sustain

Revenue became less predictable

Lead quality deteriorated

Conversion rates weakened

Marketing effectiveness declined

Customer acquisition became more expensive

Messaging lost effectiveness

Market conditions shifted faster than the organization adapted

Competitive pressure increased

The initiative generated activity without proportional outcomes

Customer trust or engagement weakened

The initiative became harder to scale

None

Other (describe below)

Other impediments (if any):

Which of the following internal factors, if any, do you feel contributed most to the underperformance of the initiative?

The initiative did not underperform

Execution problems

Market conditions

Leadership issues

Operational complexity

Weak differentiation

Organizational silos

Lack of strategic clarity

Disconnected systems/processes

Misalignment between departments

Difficulty adapting

Excessive complexity

Measurement/visibility problems

Resource constraints

Individual performance shortfalls

Other

Which operational / structural symptoms, if any, emerged during the initiative that may have presaged the outcome?

Internal coordination became more difficult

Systems or processes became fragmented

Visibility into performance weakened

Decision-making slowed

Strategic priorities became unclear

Technology became increasingly difficult to manage

Organizational friction increased

Execution became inconsistent

The initiative continued despite signs of deterioration

None of the above

Looking back, how do you feel with respect to the following statement? The initiative lost alignment with the original understanding of the market opportunity.

Strongly agree

Somewhat agree

Neutral

Somewhat disagree

Strongly disagree

During the initiative, feedback from the market became:

More consistent

Mostly stable

Increasingly mixed

Increasingly difficult to interpret

Contradictory or unclear

Over time, the strategic direction of the initiative became:

More focused

Mostly consistent

Increasingly reactive

Increasingly fragmented

Difficult to define clearly

As the initiative evolved, our business performance became:

More predictable

Mostly stable

Increasingly variable

Difficult to forecast

Highly unpredictable

Our cross-functional coordination during the initiative became:

More effective

Mostly manageable

Increasingly difficult

Frequently problematic

A major obstacle

Over time, the initiative’s core value proposition became:

More clearly defined

Mostly consistent

Increasingly diluted

Increasingly unclear

Difficult to articulate

During the initiative, priorities and objectives:

Became clearer

Remained stable

Shifted occasionally

Shifted frequently

Changed constantly

During the initiative, which of the following, if any, became less clear, less stable or more difficult to maintain alignment around?

The target customer or audience

The customer need/problem being addressed

The initiative’s core value proposition

The intended use case or application

Strategic priorities

The relationship between departments/functions

How success should be measured

The initiative remained consistently aligned

None of the above

During the initiative, the target customer/prospect definition:

Became clearer

Remained mostly stable

Expanded significantly

Shifted repeatedly

Became difficult to define

Over time, the customer need that the initiative was intended to address:

Became clearer

Remained consistent

Became broader

Became increasingly ambiguous

Became more difficult to articulate

Over time, the initiative’s offering / solution:

Became more focused

Remained consistent

Expanded significantly

Became increasingly complex

Attempted to solve too many problems

The initiative maintained a clearly defined target market/audience throughout its life-cycle.

Strongly agree

Somewhat agree

Neutral

Somewhat disagree

Strongly disagree

Looking back, how coherent and aligned were the initiative’s: target customers, value proposition, offering, and market positioning?

Highly coherent

Mostly aligned

Some inconsistencies emerged

Increasingly fragmented

Difficult to align effectively

Over time, the initiative’s intended use cases or applications:

Became more defined

Remained stable

Expanded considerably

Became increasingly diffuse

Lost clear boundaries

Thank you

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