Strategy choices
Eight choices
A tool for deciding what kind of housing association this is going to be — and for checking that the answers hold together.
Start here: what this is and how to read it
Strategy documents in this sector tend to promise more of everything. This tool does the opposite: it makes you place the organisation on eight choices where moving towards one end means moving away from the other.
1. Each row is one choice, with two opposite ends
Drag the marker, or click anywhere on the line. There is no right answer and no score — only a position.
2. You place two markers, not one
A dashed grey marker for where we are today, and a solid red one for where the strategy takes us. Use the buttons above the rows to switch between them.
The distance between the two markers is the strategy. Rows where they sit on top of each other are things you are choosing not to change. Rows where they are far apart are where the work is — and where the money and the disruption will be.
3. The choices are wired to each other
Some of these eight depend on others. Tailoring services to different residents only works if front-line staff can use judgement, so if you pick one without the other, something has to give. When two wired choices end up far apart, the row turns red and tells you what will absorb the difference — usually cost, or the people doing the job.
That is the whole point of the tool. Eight sensible-sounding answers can add up to an organisation nobody can actually run.
The eight choices, and the names given to each end, are the revised set proposed in the paper A second opinion on the positioning questions. The short italic lines under each end are plain-English glosses, not different choices.
4. Two ways of looking at it
Rows is for working through the choices one at a time — use this in the room. Shape draws all eight as a single line, so you can compare whole organisations at a glance and lay real associations over the top for calibration.
What you have described
A plain reading of the red markers. This is the paragraph to say out loud when someone asks what the strategy is.
Where it does not hold together
These run one way. Committing to the demanding end of one choice requires something of another; the reverse is not a problem. Choosing to be a community anchor requires concentration — but choosing to concentrate does not oblige you to be an anchor.
Three worked examples
Load one to see what a whole position looks like. These overwrite the red markers only.
Which choices are wired together, and why
| Tailored services need front-line judgement | Staff have to work out which resident is in front of them. A tailored offer delivered by rulebook is just an inconsistent standard one. |
| A community role needs you to set the agenda | Health, employment and financial inclusion work cannot be delivered alone. Going beyond housing means convening others, not waiting to be asked. |
| A supportive relationship needs front-line judgement | Honest conversations about what the organisation will and will not do require someone empowered to have them. |
| Specialising is already a tailoring decision | If you have chosen particular groups of residents, you have chosen a differentiated offer at portfolio level. |
| A community role needs local density | Anchor work depends on holding enough homes in one place. Thin presence across many places buys standing in none. |
| A community role needs a supportive relationship | Going well beyond housing while treating the tenancy as a purely contractual deal describes two different organisations. |
| Growth tends to widen the footprint | Development goes where land and grant are. Staying concentrated while growing takes deliberate effort. |