Strategic advisory & intelligence
Turning a complex situation into a decision you can defend.
A direction to set, a partner to assess, several options on the table — and information that is scattered, incomplete or contradictory. We structure the situation, name the assumptions no one has spelled out, and hand you a clear basis for deciding.
Discuss a situation
Most hard decisions aren’t hard for lack of intelligence. They’re hard because the situation has never been laid out.
You have to settle on a direction. Information is circulating, but it comes from different sources, doesn’t always agree, and no one has taken the time to reconcile it. You are deciding from a partial picture.
You are considering a partnership, an acquisition, a merger. You want to genuinely understand the organisation across the table: who runs it, what it is worth, what it may be hiding — before committing your signature and your reputation.
You are torn between several options. Each has its advocates, each holds up. What’s missing isn’t one more idea: it’s a framework to compare them against the same criteria and see what each one assumes.
A decision doesn’t always lack information. More often, it lacks structure.
People assume they need "more data". Most of the time, the pieces are already there — scattered across people, documents, impressions. What’s missing is the work that makes them decidable: distinguishing what is established from what is assumed, naming the implicit assumptions, bringing contradictions to the surface, and connecting all of it to the decision actually at stake.
Our role isn’t to tell you what to think. It is to make the situation intelligible: so that you see, clearly, what each option rests on, what remains uncertain, and what would change your decision if it were confirmed. A decision structured this way isn’t just better — it is defensible, before a board, a partner, or yourself six months from now.
We work on the decision itself
Through a few types of engagement. They combine according to your situation; they aren’t necessarily bought "à la carte".
- 01Diagnosis & framing. We reformulate the real question — often different from the one first asked —, set the scope, and identify what must be established in order to decide. This is the starting point of almost every engagement.
- 02Weighing options. We set the options side by side against explicit criteria, make their assumptions and consequences visible, and build scenarios to shed light on the areas of uncertainty.
- 03Assessing a partner before signing. We verify the entity, work out who is really behind it, and document what you need to know before committing — strictly within the law and based on verifiable sources.
- 04Roadmap & governance support. Once the direction is chosen, we translate it into a dated plan, with named owners and milestones — so the decision doesn’t remain an intention.
How we work. Every engagement follows the same logic, adapted to its subject: we frame the question, gather the relevant material, verify and cross-check sources, analyse facts, assumptions and risks, then deliver a clear basis for the decision. Where the mandate provides for it, we go as far as the options and the roadmap.
Typical cases, representative of what we work on
The situations below are representative; what you receive is shown alongside. No engagement is ever published without the client’s written consent.
- A partner approaches you about a tie-up. You want to understand who you’re dealing with before going further.
- → Verification file + summary note.
- Two strategies are at odds in committee. Each can be defended; a decision has to be made on a common basis.
- → Options matrix + scenarios.
- A decision has to be presented to a board. It has to hold up under questioning.
- → Strategic note + executive briefing.
- A direction has been set but nothing is moving. The intention hasn’t become a plan.
- → Dated roadmap, named owners.
- An executive inherits a complex file. They lack a reliable overview.
- → Situation diagnosis.
What you receive in concrete terms: a strategic note, a mapping of stakeholders or options, a comparison matrix, a verification file where the engagement warrants it, and — almost always — an oral briefing where we answer your questions.
Format tailored to the scope · half-day briefing. A shorter framing engagement is possible to begin with.
What we do — and what we don’t
What we do: structure the decision, verify what can be verified from lawful, documented sources, analyse, and deliver a clear basis. The decision itself remains yours.
What we don’t do: we don’t guarantee an outcome, don’t replace your judgment, and don’t claim to remove all uncertainty — some things can’t be verified, and we say so rather than hide them. We never access any information unlawfully.
What we expect from you: access to the relevant internal material and a decision-making contact. The quality of the analysis depends in part on the quality of what you can share.
Every engagement is covered by a confidentiality agreement.
Frequently asked questions
- How long does an engagement last?
- It depends entirely on the scope and on what needs to be established. A shorter framing engagement lets you start without committing to the whole.
- What’s the difference between an analysis and a recommendation?
- The analysis makes the situation intelligible: facts, assumptions, risks, options. The recommendation proposes a direction. We always provide the former; the latter when your mandate provides for it.
- What happens if some information can’t be verified?
- We flag it explicitly, rather than presenting an assumption as a fact. Knowing what remains uncertain is part of the decision.
- Do you work with confidential data?
- Yes. Every engagement is covered by a confidentiality agreement.
- Can we start with a limited engagement?
- Yes — it’s often preferable, in fact. An initial framing helps pin down the need before committing further.
A situation to clarify?
You can engage us on this area — or simply outline it, and we’ll tell you how to approach it.
Discuss a situation