BNP Paribas Fortis
After the financial crisis and a difficult merger, BNP Paribas Fortis was hungry for vision but stuck discussing the past. The CFO stepped out of his comfort zone to lead a bottom-up movement that co-created a new vision and strategy with people from across the organization, supported by BMI.
The challenge
The financial crisis had taken a toll and the merger between BNP Paribas and Fortis Bank had created a cultural disconnect, with people questioning the company's identity. Discussions were focused on what had happened in the past, and numbers alone would neither tell the story the bank needed nor get people to believe in its future.
Our approach
Rather than hiring third parties to write the strategy, the CFO started a movement: people from different departments and levels collected information, talked to customers, and synchronized their stories on a map over the course of a year, growing to a 35-person core team. BMI was involved in the design of the new strategy throughout this co-creative, bottom-up process.
The results
- A co-created vision shared and validated at a two-day 'Management University' with 250 people from across the world, delivered as TED-style keynotes on a 360-degree stage without slides.
- A forward-looking story built on the bank's DNA that re-energized the organization after years of looking backward.
- The case is described in more detail in the book 'Design a Better Business'.
The method stayed with the team. It always does.
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