A 90-minute strategy session can be one of the most useful things you do this month, or it can be a pleasant conversation that produces nothing actionable. The difference is almost entirely in the preparation. Not hours of preparation. Usually about 20 minutes of the right kind of thinking before you open the video call.

Write down the problem before you talk about it

The act of writing forces a kind of precision that talking does not. When you write down the problem, you notice where your description gets vague. You notice the parts you are glossing over. You notice the assumptions you are making. A one-page description of the situation, written the day before the session, is worth more than an hour of verbal context-setting. It does not need to be polished. It just needs to be honest.

Include what you have already tried

One of the most common ways a strategy session gets slowed down is when the consultant suggests something the client has already tried. If you write down what you have already attempted, and why it did not work, you skip that part of the conversation and get to the more interesting territory faster. It also helps the consultant understand the shape of the problem, because the things that did not work tell you as much as the things that did.

Name the thing you are avoiding

Every business problem has a version of it that the person closest to it is slightly afraid to look at directly. It might be a personnel issue, a financial reality, a strategic mistake made two years ago, or a relationship that is not working. You do not have to lead with it. But if you can write it down privately before the session, even just for yourself, it tends to surface at the right moment and the conversation becomes more useful.

What to bring on the day

You do not need slides or a deck. You need the one-page written description, a sense of what a good outcome for the session would look like, and the willingness to be surprised by what comes up. The best sessions are the ones where the client leaves thinking about something they did not expect to think about. That only happens if you come in open rather than defensive.

After the session

The written summary you receive within 24 hours is designed to capture what was said and what was decided. Read it the next morning, not immediately after the call. Give yourself a night to let the conversation settle. The things that feel most important the morning after are usually the things worth acting on first.

If you are ready to book a clarity session or a strategy sprint, the current offerings page has everything you need. If you are still not sure, the free intro call is the right place to start.