The Vegetable Test

Every parent knows this move.

"Do you want broccoli, asparagus, or carrots?"

Kid picks. Feels like their choice. Every option was already a good one.

Heads of Commercial Excellence can do a version of this at enterprise scale.

You can walk in and say: here are the capabilities that matter most to our company.

Which three or four do you think would move the needle in your business unit?

How should we approach them in your context?

Strategy stays centralized.

Performance expectations don't change.

How teams execute this? That's genuinely theirs.

What surprises most boards: the consistency improved, because when people design something they're going to use, they design it to work.

When it's imposed, they design workarounds.