Strategy Development

Activating WONDER
Activating WONDER 2068 1438 SageRiver Consulting LLC

As part of SageRiver’s study of how wonder can inspire strategy, SageRiver’s founder, Susan Heinzeroth, sat down with author and management consultant Judy Goldberg. Following a cancer diagnosis in 2017, Judy realized that skills she spent a lifetime developing were helping her effect positive changes despite the health challenges she faced.  Wanting to share those tools with others, she developed a newly published resource, titled “Wake Up and Wondershift: Five Themes and 50 Exercises Designed to Activate Wonder and Create Lasting Shifts.”

SageRiver (SR): Thank you for being with us, Judy. Let me start with a basic question. What do you mean by wonder?

Judy Goldberg (JG): When I speak of wonder, I’m referring primarily to the wonder within our own control or influence. My focus is on the wonder that runs through our bodies and gives us hints at what we should pay attention to next, or the wonder that challenges us to leave our comfort zones or bring new ideas to life.

SR: So, your book is about the personal shifts and personal wonder we can cultivate in ourselves?

JG: Yes, it’s about waking up to the wonder that’s within us. Because I believe it’s within all of us. We all have a voice that whispers, “I wonder if I…” or “I wonder when I can?” I want to help people wake up to that wonder and do something about it.

SR: The subtitle of your book suggests that activating wonder is essential to making lasting shifts. Why do you think we need to activate wonder?

JG: Because it’s linked to our goals and objectives and what we want out of life. At the same time, activating wonder requires intentionality. It means that we’re actively engaging in our experiences, situations and ideas in new ways. And if we’re not activating wonder, then we might be closing ourselves off to possibilities and going after the wrong goals and objectives.

SR: I couldn’t agree more. In fact, SageRiver’s tagline is Illuminating Possibility. Igniting Change. We chose that tagline because we want to help our clients see the larger landscape and imagine a broader range of capability. Do you find that it’s difficult for some people or teams to do that?

JG: Yes, and there are myriad reasons why. One is people will say there’s no time, right? Other people have a cognitive bias that relies on familiar patterns and experiences. I think people also have a fear of the unknown, or fixed mindsets or simply limited exposure to diverse experiences that enable them to imagine possibilities.

SR: So how do you help them break through those barriers?

JG: It needs to be intentional and incremental because there’s been so much research that shows that throwing people in a room and asking them to brainstorm on the spot is probably the worst thing you can do.

Instead, we need to help people practice creative thinking and expose them to new experiences. For example, I ask people to read different reviews on a topic and bring people together to then engage in a debate. That helps them shift their thinking into seeing two sides of a question. Another strategy I’ve tried is to take people on a field trip to somewhere they’ve never been. Little things like field trips can be eye-opening and help people imagine possibilities.

SR: Those are great suggestions. Within our own firm, we make it a practice to inspire and invest in the curiosity and wonder of our staff. Even if the connection to our work isn’t immediately obvious, we find that by following our wonder, we bring back new ways of thinking that infuse our strategy work.

JG: Exactly!

SR: You included the word “shift” in the title of your book. Can you briefly describe the five themes in your book that help us wake up to wonder and make positive shifts in our lives?

JG: I use S.H.I.F.T. as an acronym as well as an outcome. Each letter stands for a different theme that I explore in a section of the book.

  • S is for Shape, which is about the power of mindset in forming our lives.
  • H is for Harmony, which is about achieving inner harmony as well as harmony with others.
  • I is for Imagine. This is where we let loose and let our imaginations run wild.
  • F is for Focus, which is where we cut through the world of distractions and zoom in on what’s important to each of us.
  • T is for Team, which helps us curate the team we need to make the shifts we desire.

SR: That’s a wonderful blueprint, and I highly recommend the exercises within your book and the creative thinking they spark. Before we close, is there one thing you’d like people to take away from our conversation about the value of wonder?

JG: I’ll share one of my favorite quotes: “A year from now, you will wish you had started today. So cross that threshold because your wonder awaits.”

Seeing WONDER
Seeing WONDER 2000 1333 SageRiver Consulting LLC

As part of SageRiver’s study of how wonder can inspire strategy, we sat down with photographer Tom Riggs. He has built his career around exploring landscapes with wonder to find the story, emotion and meaning in the world around him. His insights can help leaders understand how to open their eyes more fully to see possibilities that would otherwise stay hidden.

Trillium Lake. Published by permission of Tom Riggs Photography.

SageRiver (SR): You’re known for your astounding landscape photography, and it’s often difficult to get to the locations you photograph. Why do you do it? Are these images for you? Or, are you taking them as a gift to others, in the hope the pictures will resonate with them?

Tom Riggs (TR): I take the photographs for myself and process them how I remember the scene. And if that resonates or strikes a chord or an emotion or a memory in someone else, then that’s just the joy of connecting with your audience through your work.

SR: How do you decide what you’re going to photograph?

TR: If I’m out in nature, I’ll have something already in mind that I want to use as my main subject. That will anchor the picture and be what draws you or me to that specific scene. As I look at that, I try to satisfy my need for why I was there in the first place. I make sure I satisfy that curiosity first, and then I’ll look for other things that you can’t see. I’ll look around and explore other angles or a different subject matter or perspective. I may get down on the ground or get an overhead view to capture an idea I was wondering about while I was traveling to that location.

SR: When you look at a scene, how do you compose the photos you take?

TR: Usually, when I come upon a scene, I’m immediately looking for some sort of composition. I don’t know if that’s something inherent or something that is trained, but it seems to come relatively easy to me. I just notice how the eye reaches and flows and focuses around a certain landscape item. I notice the scene itself, as well as how my eye responds to it.

SR: I’ve heard you speak about drawing attention to or eliminating information from the picture. Those feel like strategic choices, and I’m wondering if you can describe the process.

Sol Duc Forest, Olympic National Park. Published by permission.

TR: If I have a subject or an anchor for the photo, I want to decide where to put it in the picture. And it’s usually not smack dab in the middle. It’s usually best to begin with some of the general rules of photography, such as the rule of thirds. That means dividing your frame into horizontal and vertical thirds to create four points where those lines intersect. Typically, it’s a good idea to put your main subject in one of those four intersections. It doesn’t mean you’re locked into that. It just means that’s a good place to start.

Then, I consider how my eye moves around that frame. Do I need to crop out details that pull the eye away from my anchor? Or if I’m walking on a trail, for example, and it leads up to a mountain peak, my eye will naturally follow the trail. If I’m aware of that and use that detail in my composition, it will help give the photograph some depth that leads the viewer into the picture toward my main subject.

SR: Are you conscious about evoking emotion in your composition process?

TR: I think that’s the deepest part of a photograph for me. And the emotion might come from the entire experience I’ve had in capturing the photo. That might mean how I got to that location. It might mean that I waited out a storm for the clouds to clear, and then, miraculously, a beautiful scene reveals itself. Emotion to me is the very essence of a photograph.

SR: Can you tell me about an experience you’ve had like that?

TR: There was a time in Oregon when I wanted to photograph a remote mountain lake at sunrise (see the picture of Trillium Lake, pictured at top). So, I drove there and tried to sleep in my car overnight. I was rewarded with one of the most incredible sunrises—a crystal clear lake with a mirror image of the mountain in the background. It was pitch dark when I got there. I had no idea what the morning would bring. But I made the effort, and it was incredible.

There was only one other photographer there, and we just looked at each other with wonder. It was almost as if we were saying to each other, “I can’t believe we’re visualizing this incredible sunrise and nobody else is around.” The emotion comes out of the whole process. It doesn’t always work out the way I hope, but I have to be open to the possibility. The voice in my head always tells me, “Well, if you don’t go, you’ll probably miss the best sunrise that’s ever been made.”

SR: So, the lesson is to embrace all aspects of the experience as part of the wonder that you’re creating in your life through photography.

TR: Yes. I’d also say that you join a community through those experiences. Most photographers are happy to help with instructions and tidbits about what they’ve learned. Rarely do you find someone who is not forthcoming with helpful information.

SR: And the experience doesn’t stop after you snapped the picture, does it? You also have the opportunity to edit the photo to bring out the wonder of what you saw when you were in nature.

TR: Yes, and the individual expression you can bring to it. It’s interesting that you can have two people who are side by side taking the same photograph, but they will come up with completely different final images. That’s what makes it so exciting.

Ball Corporation Drives Progress Toward Real Circularity
Ball Corporation Drives Progress Toward Real Circularity 2560 1707 SageRiver Consulting LLC

In our “Stories from the Field” series, SageRiver sits down with senior leaders who are transforming their organizations for tomorrow. Our latest conversation is with Ball Corporation’s Mike Schaarschmidt, senior director of supply chain. As a leading supplier of aluminum packaging for beverage, household and personal care customers, Ball is focused on helping the world move toward a truly circular economy, where materials can be used again and again. Recently, Ball accepted a unique opportunity to further its mission by partnering with young strategists to market a more sustainable solution to plastic cups. The collaboration helped Ball double brand awareness and optimized an online sales distribution channel to drive increases of the new product sales.

It wasn’t how Mike Schaarschmidt expected to begin his new job at Ball Corporation.

“The day I started was the day we decided we were going to pivot,” he recalls. “It was June 2020, at the height of the pandemic, right when everyone realized that social distancing would last more than a few weeks.”

As the new supply chain leader, Schaarschmidt was part of a team charged with launching a breakthrough product via retail, online and foodservice channels. Called the Ball Aluminum Cup®, the product was infinitely recyclable and promised to significantly reduce plastic use and landfill waste.

Initial market research showed that the product tended to “sell itself forward,” meaning consumers would recommend it to friends and family once they’d experienced it themselves. With those findings in mind, Ball developed a launch strategy aimed at driving consumer sales through word-of-mouth marketing and social media virality. The strategy would center on sales to large venues—such as sports stadiums and concert venues—supported by advertising and celebrity-endorsed social media content.

But COVID restrictions threw a wrench in those plans, forcing the company to focus instead on retail sales through large distributors and stores such as CVS and Target. The Ball Aluminum Cup® found early success among older, more affluent consumers and larger businesses. But, the product hadn’t gained traction among younger consumers or smaller businesses and restaurants.

Enlisting New Strategists for Fresh Insights

Just as Ball was developing the next phase of its strategy, Schaarschmidt received an unexpected call from Susan Heinzeroth, founder of SageRiver Consulting and an adjunct faculty member at the CU School of Business. Heinzeroth had been inspired by Ball’s new infinitely recyclable product and suggested that a partnership with her strategy class might benefit Ball, as well as her students.

Schaarschmidt liked the idea—and his colleagues agreed.

After briefing the students on their existing marketing strategy and results, the Ball Corporation team identified four marketing strategy goals:

1. Grow overall awareness of the new brand
2. Educate consumers about the benefits of the product (i.e., that it was more than just a disposable cup)
3. Drive trial via a more expansive push into the foodservice market (especially restaurants)
4. Reach younger generations via a push into organic and paid social media

Four teams of student strategists were formed to focus on younger consumers or small businesses. With coaching from Heinzeroth, the teams conducted interviews, focus groups and surveys to understand the perceptions, needs and values of those audiences and then presented their recommendations to Ball.

Going Viral Via Lifestyle Content

The first teams targeted consumers in their late twenties to early forties. These consumers valued sustainable products and could afford a slightly higher price point than the red plastic cups they were accustomed to purchasing. These consumers were especially active on Tik-Tok and Instagram, and they liked engaging with content from social influencers and friends who shared their values and interests. Word-of-mouth marketing was an effective strategy with this group, and they liked the way the Ball Aluminum Cup® kept drinks cold in a sturdy container.

One challenge emerged with this audience, however. Younger consumers didn’t know much about Ball or understand the tagline that was being used for the product—Infinitely Recyclable. While this disconnect made them question the truth of the message, it also opened the door to educating consumers about Ball’s longstanding commitment to sustainability and the promise of aluminum, which can literally be recycled again and again without degrading.

“Most people don’t realize it, but 75 percent of all the aluminum that has been mined globally is still in circulation,” Schaarschmidt said.

The student team recommended that Ball create behind-the-scenes videos showing how the cups are made and recycled and share that content on social media. They also encouraged Ball to shift toward more authentic and timely content by giving influencers contractable freedom to jump on trending topics around sustainable products and integrate the Ball Aluminum Cup® into other activities and content. These messages, which would leverage Ball’s Colorado roots as part of an informal, outdoors-oriented culture, would position the Ball Aluminum Cup® as a lifestyle brand that was better for the environment.

Building New Avenues for Personalized, Convenient Sales

The other student teams focused on small, independent operators, including restaurants, breweries and bars, as well as corporate, wedding and catering services. While these audiences had diverse needs, they all wanted an easier way to purchase Ball’s product in smaller quantities, since they don’t order in bulk through large distributors. The students recommended that Ball establish an online store through Amazon, offer the cups in different sizes and drive small businesses to the Amazon store through search engine optimization and sponsored ads.

Most small operators also wanted the ability to personalize the Ball Aluminum Cup® with their own business or event logos. The students recommended that Ball leverage relationships with third-party vendors to explore labeling options for small quantity purchases. This would allow Ball to service the market without investing significantly in limited-run printing.

Telling a Larger Story

Ball has already implemented several of the students’ recommendations—and seen big results. Brand awareness has doubled from 20 to 40 percent, and the Ball Aluminum Cup® can now be purchased in multiple sizes through an online Amazon site that has significantly increased sales. Thanks to rising demand, Ball is now selling its cups through 35,000 retail stores and has gained distribution in 60 percent of retail chains as well.

Just as importantly, working with the students has reinforced how the Ball Aluminum Cup® can help the company tell a larger story.

“Every aspect of Ball—from aerospace to cups to cans—is truly about sustainability and the sustainable benefits of aluminum,” Schaarschmidt said. “When the students presented their recommendations, they told us what they learned about the product and about recycling in the United States. We need to take the whole country through the same journey.”

Luckily, Ball will have help from a passionate new group of brand ambassadors.

“It was rewarding to work with a company to help solve a real problem,” said Emilie Waggoner, who participated in the project before graduating. “I still talk about this project a year later, and now, my coworkers bring me Ball Aluminum Cups® because they know I love them so much!”

A Consulting Project on Finding Joy and Purpose in Retirement
A Consulting Project on Finding Joy and Purpose in Retirement 1700 994 SageRiver Consulting LLC

CU Denver students conducted high-level research for Jackson National Life in a strategy lab course

Each semester a group of CU Denver Business School MBA students are given the rare opportunity to collaborate with a company from Colorado for course credit. Through the business strategy lab, students consult with a company on a strategic issue they’re facing and learn how to conduct research, synthesize their research into strategic recommendations, work with executives while gaining both strategy and consulting experience.

The Business Strategy Lab course is taught by Susan Heinzeroth, she’s a CU Denver Business School alumna and owner of SageRiver Consulting, a strategy consulting firm.

This semester a group of MBA students were given two challenge statements and conducted research that was presented to one of America’s largest annuity companies, Jackson National Life.

What is the business strategy lab?

Business strategy lab is a course that helps students gain hands-on experience with strategy, consulting, and client relationship management. Teams design and execute projects based on the strategic challenges they are given from the client. Students work to problem-solve, conduct research, analyze information, and create a deliverable to present at their final client reception.

Heinzeroth has been teaching the business strategy lab course for five years. As an active professional who does consulting and strategical work at her own firm, she provides her students with skills and knowledge they need to succeed in their consulting project.

Every semester, Heinzeroth invites experts to talk and advise students on strategic thinking and how to conduct research. For example, this semester a senior manager from Accenture, a management consulting company, came in to share his expertise and knowledge on strategical thinking and the consulting process to prepare students for their upcoming research project.

Jumping into the research of joy

Jackson National Life’s mission was to identify when pre-retirees were both financially ready to retire and to understand how to help them step into retirement with a purpose. The company gave the MBA students two specific challenges:

  1. Identify how retirees find their purpose
  2. Research what makes retirees joyful and happy

Students collected research in various ways including surveys and one-on-one interviews. One event they hosted called Purpose Pathways allowed students to interview pre-retirement participants on their perspectives about on purpose and joy.

As the students conducted the interviews, they offered activities such as Jenga, the operation game, and hopscotch. Meanwhile, they would also pull participants aside to ask them about joy and purpose. The goal of this event was to find out whether pre-retirees should start finding their purpose and joy earlier in life.

One activity involved jumping into a children’s pool with rain boots. Participants were asked if they remembered the last time they’ve done anything childlike. Several admitted they couldn’t remember. The ‘act your age’ stigma is one stigma many adults fall into, and that isn’t always a good thing. It can hold people back from experiencing the simple joys of life, things like splashing through puddles on a rainy day.

A successful collaboration

“The knowledge and experience gained is really beneficial. It’s amazing to see the collaboration between Jackson National, the students, and our professor,” shared Austin Garza, a Professional MBA student specializing in business strategy.

“The knowledge and experience gained is really beneficial. It’s amazing to see the collaboration between Jackson National, the students, and our professor” – Austin Garza

At the end of the semester, the students gathered their research into a final presentation for the company. The presentation included actionable recommendations that Jackson National Life could integrate and utilize.

This isn’t the first time Jackson National has given a project to CU Denver students. The company has implemented several recommendations from past presentations, so they know the valuable insight student consultants can bring.

Education is more than memorization

Today’s jobs require strategic thinking, creative problem-solving skills, emotional intelligence, and effective communication. Heinzeroth and her course encourage hands-on learning experiences focused in all of those areas. She believes education should not be about memorizing and regurgitating; instead it’s about “bringing what you’re learning to life.”

Originally Heinzeroth taught at CU Boulder before she came to the CU Denver Business School. Her motivation behind teaching is to provide students real world ‘labs’ for stretching and testing their skills. Her philosophy is to flip the thought of ‘learning in order to work’ to ‘working in order to learn.’

“Experiential learning goes above and beyond the traditional education process. It becomes an expertise that students can take into the work place” – Susan Heinzeroth

“Experiential learning goes above and beyond the traditional education process. It becomes an expertise that students can take into the work place,” Heinzeroth said.

Heinzeroth looks forward to continue teaching the strategy lab course, engaging wholeheartedly with the next-generation-leaders-and-thinkers and doing what she loves the most.

She shared, “Strategy is my love. It’s my purpose and brings me joy.”

View on CU Business News

CU Denver Today: MBA Students Rub Shoulders with CEO of Swiss Company for Strategy Lab Course
CU Denver Today: MBA Students Rub Shoulders with CEO of Swiss Company for Strategy Lab Course 1200 500 SageRiver Consulting LLC

CU Denver Today: MBA Students Rub Shoulders with CEO of Swiss Company for Strategy Lab Course

Students in the MBA program have the option to take a Strategy Lab course, led by a seasoned strategy consultant and ’88 MBA alumna, Susan Heinzeroth. The course revolves around one consulting project for a client-company.  It emphasizes dual-track learning of both strategic planning, and consulting as a profession.  This semester, students are working on an e-commerce strategy for Similasan, a new company client for the course. Similasan is a Swiss company with a 35-year history of manufacturing homeopathic products.  Their hope, as a result of this Strategy Lab course, is to capture a larger market share here in the United States.

Facetime with the CEO and other C-level executives

Through their work, students are granted direct access to Similasan’s CEO, Urs Lehmann. This unique opportunity to interact directly with the top level is rarely offered in MBA programs across the country.

Urs Lehman, CEO of Similasan and former World Ski Champion, understands the importance of academia, leading to the collaboration with the CU Denver Business School. He visited Similasan’s US headquarters in late September and will meet directly with students to address questions and provide insight into the company.

In previous Strategy Lab projects, executives at Jackson National, a financial services firm, worked closely with students and have since included elements of that work directly into their overall marketing strategy, enhancing their focus on the end-consumer experience and changing the narrative around retirement to “Retire on Purpose.”

Snagging a new international company as a client

This semester, students will be devising a strategy to grow Similasan’s market share, build their e-commerce, and increase their US brand recognition. Similasan has been very successful in bringing up the US market and now sees the growth potential, especially as digital-grocery becomes more evolved.

“We took three teams, gave them three separate areas of e-commerce business strategy to focus on, and allowed them to interact directly with Similasan.” -Susan Heinzeroth

Students worked on consumer profile analysis, general market research, case studies, and potential influencers and partnerships for future e-commerce strategy formulation.

The unconventional class structure provides a seminar style, discussion, and research-oriented approach, and has students excited. What also makes it unique is it is meant to provide interaction between students and senior business executives. Both the companies involved and students benefit from their time together.

Alumna turned lecturer provides expertise and insight

Similasan came to the Business School through the instructor of the course, Susan Heinzeroth. Founder of SageRiver Consulting, Heinzeroth has built a successful strategy consulting practice focused on helping organizations achieve strategic growth and transformation.

But that’s not the only hat she wears.

Heinzeroth is also a CU Denver Business School alumna and dedicated lecturer. Along with her 30+ years of business experience, she also pulls from her MBA degree to advise students in the course. She’s been instructing students in the CU system since 2002, teaching at Leeds School of Business and now at the CU Denver Business School.

Heinzeroth teaches for a meaning because of the life-meaning it offers and the influence it has on the next generation of organizational leaders.  She seeks to ready those in her Strategy Lab course with new and transformative skills for their “real world” business lives. She built the Strategy Lab course so students could directly interact with the business community. Students find it to be a just-in-time learning process, enriched with contemporary issues that goes beyond what any internship offers. From past years, this course has translated into students gaining new employment, switching careers, and shifting focus into their desired industries.  Not to mention, the new connections they collect by working with their client.

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