The Bridgestone Group: Making Sense of Uncertainty

As arts organizations continue to navigate the uncertainty and instability created by the pandemic, political, and social unrest, The Bridgespan Group has created a robust resource for non-profits: Making Sense of Uncertainty: Nonprofit Scenario Planning in the COVID-19 Pandemic. Created by Lindsey Waldron, Robert Searle, and Alexandrea Jaskula Ranga, the resource provides a clear process to aid organizations of all sizes, and individuals, in charting a path through the coming months and years. One immediate lesson ascertained from the the resource is that scenario planning, which the group defines as a process that “helps organizations navigate uncertainty while providing structure around making key strategic decisions,”¹ is an ongoing process. Scenarios and contingencies created in April 2020, or even December 2020, might no longer be relevant as organizations face new and more complex challenges on a daily basis. The process outlined by The Bridgespan Group takes organizations through four distinct steps of scenario planning, providing insight and resources to help organizations maximize the effectiveness of the process:

1. Identify Key drivers at risk
2. Develop and model scenarios
3. Create a portfolio of actions
4. Determine key trigger points

The organization also provides an interactive toolkit with editable forms and worksheets to support the scenario planning process. While planning for the unknown can seem like and insurmountable task, the resource created by The Bridgespan Group provides clear, concise, and actionable material to aid in the process. Check out the entire resource at HERE or download a .pdf HERE.

¹ https://www.bridgespan.org/insights/library/strategy-development/nonprofit-scenario-planning-during-a-crisis