Here are sample solutions to the Happy Line exercises, submitted by fellow readers of “How to Be Strategic”. For recollection, this exercises ask you to identify ways to help Phil work better with his boss, and to improve the interactions between you and your boss. You can click on any of the blank templates below to print or download them. Scroll down the page to find the sample solutions. As usual, please do the exercise yourself before you look at the solutions! You can send us your own sample solution by clicking here.

Happy Exercise #1: Phil vs. His Boss

Are you sure you want to look at solutions yet? … Why don’t you go back up the page, print the blank template, and have another go yourself first? When you’re done, the sample solutions below will still be there - and they’ll be a lot more useful to you after you’ve had a go at the exercise on your own!

Happy Exercise #2: You vs. Your Boss

Other Happy Line Examples

This 2 examples below are from an exercise carried out in 2020 by Fred Pelard with a client. The question was: “what should IKEA do to serve students better?”. You’ll see that both teams had a very different take on the diagnostic (i.e. the top part of their flipchart) and they naturally reached mostly different ideas. One idea however, mini-IKEA stores on campus, can be found in the 3 or 4+ box for both teams. Maybe worth testing? :-)