At Evocatus Consulting, we approach it differently. Our Strategy Training uses Scenario Based Games and Tabletop Exercises to let teams explore choices, trade-offs and consequences in a realistic environment. It’s strategy you can practise, not just talk about.
Understanding Strategy: Ends, Ways and Means
We build every exercise around the classic framework of ends, ways and means, a model used from the military to the boardroom:
• Ends – what you’re trying to achieve. • Ways – the courses of action or methods you’ll take. • Means – the resources available to make it happen.
As the U.S. Army War College defines it, strategy is “the calculation of objectives, concepts and resources within acceptable risk.”
But, as Sir Lawrence Freedman reminds us, strategy isn’t a fixed plan, it’s a dialogue with change. In his interview with the Boston Consulting Group, he argues that successful strategists “embrace adaptation and contingency,” recognising that plans must evolve as circumstances shift.
Our exercises are designed precisely to develop that adaptability, requiring participants to make compromises and adhere to priorities to reconcile what they want to achieve (ends), how they plan to do it (ways), and what they actually have available (means).
Why Scenario Based Games Work for Strategy Training
Traditional strategy sessions encourage convergent thinking, aligning around the “official plan.” Scenario Based Games do the opposite: they create safe friction. Teams explore competing assumptions, external shocks, and changing priorities, all within a structured format that rewards creativity and reflection.
For example, research led by the Open University into scenario use in a UK transport organisation found that senior leaders who explored future scenarios were better able to connect their strategic options to operational and financial constraints.
That’s exactly what our clients discover through our decision-making games: the discipline of balancing ambition with feasibility.
From Strategy Design to Strategic Behaviour
Running a Tabletop Exercise doesn’t just test plans, it allows people to show their strengths. Who leads under pressure? Who listens? Who challenges assumptions?
Each session reveals the organisation’s decision culture. Participants learn to translate broad strategic intent into practical choices, developing shared understanding across silos. This strengthens problem scoping, coordination, and ultimately decision quality.
Our facilitators have led teams in complex environments, from the armed forces to the media, and bring that experience to every engagement. They design and run exercises that are inclusive, demanding and thought-provoking, ensuring every participant contributes, not just the loudest or most senior.
From Plan to Practice
Our Strategy Training process follows four repeatable stages:
- Discovery – defining objectives, context and constraints.
- Design – creating scenarios and injects that will bring up key dilemmas and decisions.
- Delivery – facilitating structured gameplay and discussion.
- Debrief – identifying actions, responsibilities and lessons.
Each run is evidence-based, engaging and repeatable, ideal for teams looking to build real strategic capability, not just a laminated plan.
Frequently Asked Questions about Strategy Training
• What is Strategy Training?
Structured, scenario-based learning that helps teams understand and apply strategy, linking objectives, actions and resources through realistic simulation.
• Why use games for strategy?
Games create a safe space to test ideas, explore consequences, and learn from outcomes without real-world cost.
• What kinds of organisations benefit?
We’ve run sessions for clients ranging from local government to major corporates, anywhere strategy vision meets real-world uncertainty.
• How long does a session take?
Typically half a day to a full day depending on complexity, with shorter modules available for leadership away-days.
• What’s the main outcome?
Improved clarity, confidence and alignment, participants leave with a shared view of what strategy means for them, and how to make it real.
Ready to move from slides to strategy? Let’s design a session for your team. Contact us at Evocatus Consulting today for more information.