When Strategy Meets Reality: How One Week Can Change the Direction of Your Organization

Signs that it's time for change

Do you recognize this feeling? Your organization is functioning and has a long history. Projects are happening. The team is dedicated to its work. And yet there's a lingering sense that more efficiency and structure are needed. Other times, the world has changed so much that it becomes important to rethink your role and adapt to the future.

This is a natural phase in the development of any organization - the moment when growth demands reflection, adaptation, and change. Enthusiasm must be turned into structure, and vision must become strategy.

In July 2025, the team at Karin Dom decided it was time for this conversation and chose Impact Drive to facilitate the process. The result was months of work, the culmination of which was a week in October that transformed not only their strategy, but the way the people work together.

The Problem Many Organizations Face (But Few Admit)

Karin Dom came to us with a question we hear often:

"How do we make a change toward the future with strategic thinking, without losing our momentum and, most of all, our heart?"

Behind this question lay deeper challenges:

Growth without direction – the organization had accumulated 30 years of history, had grown, and had become a benchmark for work with children and families, but its structure and internal processes had not kept pace. The question remained: after everything achieved so far, where to now?

Vision without agreement – everyone on the team had an idea of where the organization should be heading, but these ideas were not aligned. The result? Energy that was scattered instead of concentrated.

Values without articulation – the team strongly believed in its organizational values, but was losing momentum in communication between people internally. This created uncertainty at moments of decision-making.

If one of these challenges sounds familiar, read ahead

The Approach: Why Theory of Change Works Differently

Many organizations make the mistake of starting strategic planning from "what do we want to achieve" instead of "who are we." At Impact Drive, we follow a different logic.

Theory of Change is a methodology that connects organizational identity with external impact.

Before stepping into the room with Karin Dom's team, we spent months listening. Between July and October 2025, we asked a multitude of questions, reviewed what had been achieved so far, held meetings with team members - including some who are no longer part of the organization - and conducted an analysis of the environment on a national, European, and global scale. We carried out four focus groups with different stakeholders - corporate partners, NGOs and institutions, specialists, and parents of children using the services. Each group brought a different perspective on the organization - that of users, partners, colleagues, donors. These voices became the foundation on which we built the five working days.

"The Theory" answers three key questions in the right sequence:

Who are we? (identity, values, culture, the people in the organization) Where do we want to get to? (vision, impact, timeframe) How will we do it? (strategy, structure, priorities, goals)

The week with Karin Dom was built exactly according to this model.

Stage 1: Team Workshop - Looking Inward (Days 1 and 2)

The first two days were devoted to something most organizations skip - the team foundation.

Team dynamics and a focus on people – 45 members of the Karin Dom team engaged honestly and openly in activities that visualized their abilities, interests, contributions, and challenges. Together, we analyzed the contextual framework within which each person works - from individual specifics to the influence of national and international factors. This was not abstract team building. It was an honest conversation about the organization's capacity.

Culture, communication, and understanding of internal processes – we held a candid conversation about the internal culture, sense of purpose, and relationships within the team. Space was created for listening and sharing, bringing to the forefront the topics and needs of teamwork, solidarity, clear communication, active listening, mutual support, workload, burnout, recognition, and understanding. We reached a long-awaited moment of open and timely conversation, in which everyone was heard and viewpoints were acknowledged and accepted.

Shared values – defining the values was not a quick process. It began long before the workshop, through a survey of all members of the governing bodies, management, and the Karin Dom team. We started with more than 30 words expressing the values identified in the survey. Those present engaged in a series of discussions, put forward arguments, and debated until we arrived at the 5 core values that hold true for everyone in the room and clearly represent Karin Dom's value framework. Today, each member of the team comfortably stands behind these values.

Defining the desired change – we worked across 5 different layers to determine what we want to change in society, in the region, in the sector, in the organization, in the team. Working with the topic of change allows important details, needs, and tasks to be drawn out, outlining the path forward for the organization by identifying those things within its control and capabilities. This activity turns the abstract "we want change" into clear goals and direction.

Visualizing the future – the final exercise was different. We asked everyone to take a marker and draw Karin Dom five years from now - not to describe it in words, not to list it in bullet points, but to literally draw it. People leaned over their sheets of paper with varying degrees of courage: some drew quickly and confidently, others hesitated. But everyone wove in something of their own - a dreamed-of service, an image of a growing community, a building with open doors, a child running, a train heading toward the future. Afterward, we gathered the drawings into a single collective picture, built from many hands, in which everyone could see themselves.

Something we rarely talk about openly: the first days are sometimes difficult. In teams that have gone through many changes, people carry fatigue, doubts, and questions for which there is never any space for discussion. Our role was to create the conditions for these conversations to happen - constructively, with respect, but also with honesty. By the end of the second day at Karin Dom, something had changed - the way the people in the room looked at and talked to one another. The team did not simply know more about each other. It saw itself more clearly - as a whole.

Stage 2: Team Workshop — Looking Forward (Days 3 to 5)

With a clear foundation in place, we moved on to strategic work with the foundation's leadership team. If the first two days were about listening and openness, the next 3 days were about something different - focused, at times exhausting, but deeply meaningful expert work. The team entered the room already with common ground: it knew who it was and carried all the viewpoints, recognized its values, and held a shared picture of the future. Now the task was to turn all of this into something concrete and workable - a strategy. Not dreams, but priorities with dates, leaders, and measurable results. The pace shifted. The conversations became more technical, more precise, sometimes more difficult - because from this point on, every formulation carried weight.

Vision for the next 5 years – we started from the vision for 2030, going through a series of iterations, refining every word until the formulation began to sound at once like ambition and like commitment, but also like Karin Dom - tradition, care, wholeness. We created a vision that the organization believes in and can achieve.

Drawing out strategic priorities – from the vision, which shows the end point, we moved on to concrete priorities, or the steps for reaching it. Which 3-5 things are critical to our success? What must we achieve at all costs, and what is secondary? What, on an administrative level, must ensure sustainability and efficiency? This conversation requires courage - because to say "this is a priority" means at the same time saying "this is not." We worked step by step, with arguments and consensus, until only the things the entire team stood behind remained on paper.

Formulating goals and indicators – for each priority, we went through methodical work: what is the specific goal, how will we know we have achieved it, what resources are needed. We edited the wording repeatedly - not out of pedantry, but because the precise words make the difference between a plan that gets implemented and a document that gathers dust. The strategy stopped being an abstraction and became a plan of action.

Organizational structure – in the final days of the workshop, we also added concrete work on the organizational structure. We mapped out the lines of communication - who talks to whom, who makes decisions, how information flows upward, downward, and horizontally. Visualizing this map sometimes says more than any report.

What Made the Process Effective: 3 Key Principles

1. Facilitation instead of consulting

We did not arrive with ready-made answers. We arrived with the right questions and a process that allows the answers to be born from within. Because a strategy created by the team is always stronger than a strategy imposed from outside.

2. Consensus instead of voting

We were not looking for a majority. We were looking for understanding. Every decision was the result of discussion, arguments, and the gradual building of a shared vision. The process was slower, but the result was sustainable.

3. Balance between vision and realism

We encouraged ambitious thinking, but always connected it to real resources and capacity. Vision without a plan is a dream. A plan without a vision is a bureaucratic document. Success lies in the balance.

The Results: What Changed in One Week

By the end of the five days, Karin Dom had:

✓ Defined organizational values – 5 core values that describe the organization's identity

✓ A clear 5-year vision – a concrete picture of the future that everyone on the team understands in the same way

✓ Strategic priorities – critical areas of impact with specific goals

✓ Operational priorities – areas for internal development that provide sustainability and the capacity to achieve the strategic priorities (structure, HR, communications, fundraising)

✓ Clear goals – for each priority

✓ Success indicators – ways of measuring progress

✓ A new organizational structure – roles, responsibilities, and decision-making processes

Alongside the team's work, we synthesized the viewpoints of over 20 organizations, companies, and parents from the focus groups - outside voices that complemented and tested the internal observations. The strategy that emerged was not just the team's plan. It was a reflection of an entire ecosystem.

The team came out of the week with a shared understanding of who they are, where they are heading, and how they will get there. This week gave the team new energy and enthusiasm (a phenomenon we often observe after working with teams). It also gave a new sense that change is possible and depends on the team itself.

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When Is the Right Moment to Invest in Capacity Building

Not every organization needs this process at every moment. But there are signs that it's time:

1. You feel you're growing, but the structure can't keep up – you have new projects and people, but the processes are chaotic

2. Your team is engaged, but out of sync – everyone is working hard, but sometimes in different directions

3. You have a vision, but it remains abstract – you talk about the future, but you can't translate it into concrete steps

4. You make decisions intuitively rather than strategically – you react to opportunities instead of following a plan

5. You feel worn out by day-to-day operations – your day is filled with tasks, but you rarely have time for strategic thinking
   

If you recognized your organization in several of these signs, it's probably time for a conversation.

How Impact Drive Supports Organizations Like Yours

At Impact Drive, we believe in capacity building for long-term organizational transformation. Our approach includes:

Individualized methodology – no two organizations are alike, so there is no one-size-fits-all solution. We adapt the process according to your needs, capacity, and context.

Facilitation based on trust and participation – we create a safe space for honest conversations, constructive conflict, and genuine team consensus.

Balance between process and outcome – we care not only about the documents we produce, but about the process the team goes through. Because transformation lies in the journey, not only in the destination.

Long-term support – the work does not end with the creation of the strategy. We offer follow-up support for implementation and adaptation.

We offer:

• Organizational development consulting – diagnostics and support for structural change

• Facilitated Theory of Change process – from vision to a concrete strategy for impact

• Strategic planning – multi-year strategies with priorities, goals, and indicators

• Team development – workshops for building organizational culture and values

• Tailored trainings – programs adapted to your organization's specific needs

Change begins with a conversation. Not with a commitment, not with a decision — just a conversation about where you are now and where you want to go. If you recognized your organization in this text, we'd love to talk.

Contact Impact Drive: info@impactdrive.bg

Or book a free consultation → https://www.impactdrive.eu/ngoseervices

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