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SWOT Analysis, the process of assessing the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats a business or product faces, has been the staple for decades. As taught in business schools and seminars, the idea is to apply a structure to strategic planning exercises by identifying the organization’s competitive advantages and disadvantages (strengths and weaknesses) and the opportunities and threats in the broader market.

If you have done these exercises, you know it can be hard to balance reality and what you think management wants to hear. It can become less of a strategic exercise and more of a justification of how the company approaches the market and why everyone else is wrong. Even when led by outside facilitators, it’s hard to avoid putting a cheery spin on the current state and drive the conversations that lead to an accurate and dispassionate appraisal of your products and services.