Apply the framework
Use Plain Strategy when developing a course of action, examining a proposal, explaining a decision, or reviewing what happened.
Begin with a particular question and situation. Use the models to describe what is proposed or has happened. Sentence patterns help express the elements and connections identified in the situation. Examine the supporting evidence. Apply principles to the circumstances before reaching a judgement.
For example, a business considering a new service needs to describe the customers it will serve, the work it will offer, and the means available. Whether the course is appropriate depends on those particulars and the reasons for expecting it to achieve the objective.
Keep the description, evidence, reasons, and unresolved matters clear so that others can examine the account.
Describe a strategy or proposal
Identify who intends to act, the purpose, the objectives, and the proposed means. Explain how the actions fit together and why they are expected to achieve the objectives. Use the models to examine those connections; sentence patterns help make their elements explicit.
Example. For a proposed maintenance service, distinguish introducing the service, earning income from it, and covering its costs. Specify the customers to be served and the work to be offered.
Understand the situation
Record what is known and how it is known. Consider its significance for the purpose being pursued, bringing relevant principles to bear. Distinguish the information from the conclusions drawn from it, and identify questions that need further inquiry.
Example. Customers accepting a priced maintenance offer provide evidence about that offer under those conditions. Consider what their responses establish and what remains unknown about serving other customers.
Compare possible courses
Establish the purpose of the comparison and the requirements each course would need to meet. Examine the means, expected consequences, evidence, and assumptions involved. Apply the relevant principles to each course and explain the grounds for the preference.
Example. Compare offering maintenance locally with serving a wider area. Examine which customers each course could reach, the travel and technician time required, and the effect on existing commitments.
Plan how to proceed
Describe how the intended course will be carried out and what needs to be settled or found out along the way. Distinguish the phases of the undertaking from the kinds of work involved in each. Information, appreciation, planning, and decisions may recur as the work proceeds.
Example. Preparing, running, and reviewing a maintenance trial each involve several kinds of work. A scheduling decision during the trial may depend on information gathered while carrying out visits.
Review what happened
Specify the question being assessed and the evidence relevant to it. Carrying out an action, achieving an objective, and making a reasonable decision call for different assessments. Examine the decision in light of what was reasonably known when it was made, as well as examining the results.
Example. Ask separately whether maintenance was delivered as promised, whether the service covered its costs, and whether the trial supports offering it more widely.
Reconsider a strategy
Identify which parts of the account need reconsideration: the situation, the objectives, the proposed means, or the reasons connecting them. Describe the effect of the change before deciding what to revise. Record the grounds for the next course and the matters that remain unresolved.
Example. Longer travel times may give the business a reason to group visits or restrict the service area. Examine how each change would affect income, costs, and work already promised.
Plain Strategy, developed by Dr Julien Maréchal. © 2026 The Governance Practice.
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