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02. March, 2026

Step 1 toward strategic overview: Strategihuset [The Strategy House]

In this article, the tool Strategihuset [The Strategy House] helps you and your company strengthen your organizational foundation, make clearer choices, and work more sustainably with your artistic practice.

In this article, you will find the practical tool Strategihuset [The Strategy House], a simple and visual framework that helps create coherence between vision, goals, and action.

By gaining an overview of your vision, ambitions, goals, and activities, you become better equipped to translate artistic intent into strategic direction and practice.

The article is developed by UP based on experiences from smaller, artist-led companies and groups that have used the tool in connection with their participation in the  Performing Arts Strategy Lab.

Start here: Three steps toward strategic overview

We recommend that you work with the tools in this order:

  • Strategy House – creates overview and common direction
  • Core Story – formulates your identity and narrative
  • Stakeholder analysis – maps your most important relationships

Together, these three tools form a foundation for your further strategic work: 
First overview → then narrative → and finally relationships. 

Strategy and plan? – Two different things

An important principle in strategic work is to distinguish between strategy and plan.

The strategy defines direction and choices:
Where do you want to go, and which actions are most important to get there?

The plan is the tool for putting the strategy into action. It specifies:

  • Tasks
  • Resources (time, money, workforce)
  • Responsibilities
  • Timeline
  • Milestones

In short:
Strategy = what and why
Plan = how and when

Strategihuset [The Strategy House] – a model for strategic overview

Strategihuset [The Strategy House] brings together your most important strategic considerations into one shared picture.

Just as a house consists of a foundation, structure, and roof, your organisation consists of:

  • At the top: your purpose and vision
  • Building blocks: your goals, role, and position
  • Structure: the frameworks you operate within
  • The foundation: what you do (activities)

The house helps you maintain focus on the whole and ensures that your vision, strategic choices, and day-to-day practices are aligned and support one another.

Strategihuset

The six building blocks

Purpose – why are you here?
Your raison d'être and the difference you want to make.
Vision – what are you striving for?
The future you are working towards.
Position and role – how and where do you make a difference?
What type of player do you want to be in this field?
Specific goals – what do you need to achieve in order to realize the vision?
2–4 clear goals that make the vision tangible.
Framework – what conditions do you work under?
Economics, organization, capacity, collaborations, geography.
Activities – what exactly do you do?
The actions, projects, and initiatives that move you forward.
Why use Strategihuset [the Strategy House]?

Benefits:

  • Provides a visual, shared overview
  • Illustrates the connection from vision to action
  • Supports clear decisions and prioritisation
  • Strengthens communication with funders, partners, and audiences

How to work with the strategy house

1. Gather your core group
Set aside 2–3 hours. Find a large sheet of paper or whiteboard.
2. Draw the house
Divide it into six fields.
3. Talk your way through the house – from top to bottom
Start with purpose and vision. Agree on them. Write concisely and precisely.
4. Check the context
Ask yourselves: Do our activities actually support our goals? Do our goals match the vision we say we have? Is our role clear in what we do?
5. Use the house actively
When you are planning new projects, writing applications, or prioritizing your time.
Example of a Strategy House for a Performing Arts Company

Example: A company’s Strategy House (excerpt):

Purpose:
We exist to create performing arts that challenge, move, and give voice to perspectives that are otherwise unheard.

Vision:
We aim to be a driving force in the development of new performing arts that both reflect and shape society.

Position and role:
An experimental company operating at the intersection of theatre, music, and performance.

Goals:

  • Develop two new works annually
  • Work strategically with young audiences
  • Achieve local and international visibility
  • Create economic sustainability

Frameworks:

  • Collective organization
  • Project-based funding
  • Based in Aarhus

Activities:

  • Performances
  • Workshops
  • Collaborations
  • Grant applications

Good advice from Strategy Lab

The experiences from Strategy Lab 2025 point to some key lessons:

Strategy is a series of choices 

A good strategy is not about doing more – it's about choosing wisely.

Cut to the bone
Better to have a small, sharp focus than a large, unwieldy program.

Strategy creates human sustainability
Clear structures lead to greater well-being, less overload, and greater capacity.

Time and pace are prerequisites
Reflection, testing, and adjustment are not delays—they are the work itself.

Common pitfalls in strategy work

Be aware that there are four classic problems that often weaken strategy work:
1. Lack of real choices
When the strategy becomes a desire for “more, different, and better” instead of clear priorities and trade-offs.
2. Wrong timing and energy
When strategy feels like something you have to do – rather than something you want to do and have room for.
3. Average strategy
When strategy ends up as a compromise of compromises.
4. Vision without action
When strategy is all about dreams – without any connection to implementation and daily practice
Strategy is not about being big

Strategy is not about being big.
It is about being intentional.

The companies that stand strongest are not those with the biggest plans, but those with:

  • The clearest narrative
  • The most distinct priorities
  • The most realistic understanding of their own capacity

The Strategy House gives you a shared compass, enabling you to build your organisation in a way that protects the artistic work—and allows it to grow sustainably, in the long term, and on your own terms.

Characteristics of a strong strategy

A good strategy succeeds when:

  • Overall decisions are consistently on strategy
  • There is a clear focus on choices and trade-offs
  • There is strong alignment between strategy and the operational level
  • The strategy creates value in everyday practice—not just on paper
What does strategic work give us in practice?

Participants in the Performing Arts Strategy Lab experienced that strategic work led to:

  • Greater clarity about identity and core narrative
  • Better decisions regarding projects and collaborations
  • Stronger communication with funders, partners, and audiences
  • More sustainable workflows and work culture
  • Greater courage and long-term stability

Strategy can be a foundation for artistic practice that gives it stronger conditions to thrive.

About the article
This article was developed by the Danish Performing Arts Development Platform (Udviklingsplatformen for Scenekunst, UP) based on a professional collaboration with Karen Lorenzen (Operate) and on experiences and evaluations from participants in UP’s initiative The Performing Arts Strategy Lab, which is supported by the Bikuben Foundation. The article was produced through an editorial process in which UP, among other things, used ChatGPT for structuring, wording, and summarizing the content.