Better diagnoses for better strategies
Finding better solutions
As a manager, you are used to finding solutions – it’s part of your daily work. But not all problems are the same. Some problems are easy to fix, others are difficult to identify. Sometimes the solution you propose is not accepted by the team and the problem persists or even gets worse. In some cases, you have solved the problem, but the situation does not improve.
It’s not easy to gain enough distance and change your analytical grid to think outside the box, bring a team together to take action or agree on the first step to a better situation. The DCA approach helps you to do all this quickly and methodically.
What is DCA?
DCA (in French: Diagnostic Court Appliqué, which could be translated as “rapid applied diagnosis”) is a diagnostic tool developed by the IFEAS (Institut Francophone d’Etudes et d’Analyses Systémiques, Montreal).
It can be described as a particularly rich and fast method for analysing a situation, a team or a service and solving a problem or creating an improvement plan (Kaizen).
It is a tool that enables managers to structure their strategy development process and overcome recurring errors in strategy definition.
What is DCA suitable for?
The DCA tool is particularly useful:
- If you want to analyse a problem
- If you want to share information with your team on a regular basis
- If you want to set up a service project
- To look for new ways to improve
- To prepare for a change
- When you take on the position of manager
Please note, however, that the DCA is less effective:
- in conflict situations
- for purely financial approaches
Contents
Strategic workshops and consulting with DCA
Core elements of the DCA
The methodology guides you through several short phases of analysis and synthesis from different angles and perspectives on an innovative path of reflection. At the end of the process, you will have reassessed your context, your organization and your capabilities, developed a vision for the next 3 to 5 years and defined a contextual strategy and action plan.
The system diagnosis is very pragmatic. It offers you a series of 40 concrete scenarios with various pragmatic and empirically based ideas to help you start the reflection phase.
It will also help you decide what to focus on first and synthesize your own perceptions. The result can then be presented for review and the feedback can be used to make more sustainable decisions.
If the exercise is quick, it deserves to be nuanced, relativized and, above all, shared.
A methodology in 3 phases
A DCA workshop is carried out in three phases:
Data collection
Information gathering in six rounds (approx. 2 hours).
Analysis
Carrying out various analyses (approx. 4 hours).
Concept
Draft an action plan based on the results of the analysis.
Strategic workshops and consulting with DCA
The ability to adapt and act requires a quick and solid analysis. In just a few steps, we effectively support you in bringing about and introducing pragmatic solutions!
Book your workshop online now or get in touch with us!
We are your consultant, interim manager, trainer, and coach – or a mix of all that.
Who developed the DCA?
The DCA methodology was developed by two teams from the IFEAS (Institut Francophone d’Etudes Appliquées en Systémique), a department of the Collège Polytechnique International.
The main authors are: Charles-Henri Russon, Odile James, Pierre Bufferne, David Mullender and Daniel Giguerre.
Official website (in French): https://www.polytechnique.education/dca-systeme
