The business case is strong. So why isn't it happening?

We get the right people on board—and high-stakes initiatives moving

ThroughSpan helps companies move high-stakes transactions, settlements, and business initiatives forward when competing interests, institutional politics, and power dynamics stand in the way.

We figure out what it takes to get the right people on board, build the necessary support and leverage, and execute the strategy to make it happen.

An acquisition may require key executives to stay, customers to renew and regulators to approve. A capital project may depend on elected officials, regulators and communities. A transformation may require leaders to make difficult decisions and employees to adopt new ways of working.

Inside the Enterprise

  • Employees

  • Executives

  • Board members

  • Owners

Outside the Enterprise

  • Customers

  • Suppliers

  • Regulators

  • Elected Officials

  • Communities

  • Partners

  • Public & Media

  • What contribution does the value thesis require?

  • How much leverage does that party have over value realization?

  • How likely is the required contribution to occur?

ThroughSpan tests what the value thesis requires from each critical party—and where those dependencies create material risk.

ThroughSpan Value Realization System™

We start with the outcome the client needs and work backward to understand why it isn't happening. We identify the people and institutions who influence the outcome, uncover the interests and obstacles driving their decisions, and develop and execute the strategy to move things forward.

1. Define the Value Thesis

Identify the sources and components of expected value.

2. Identify Critical Dependencies

Determine whose actions, decisions, consent or acceptance each source of value requires.

3. Understand the Barriers

Identify what could prevent critical people and institutions from taking the actions, making the decisions or providing the support the value thesis requires.

5. Protect and Create Value

Target interventions where reducing dependency risk can protect or create the greatest economic value.

4. Build the Conditions for Success

Design and execute the actions needed to overcome barriers, align interests and increase the likelihood that critical dependencies support the desired business outcome.

Why ThroughSpan?

“For twenty years I led the firm that companies turned to when high-stakes business outcomes depended on the actions of people and institutions they couldn't control—governments, employees, customers, communities, and others with the power to influence the outcome.

“For ten years before that I taught and applied statistics and machine learning at Kellogg to model and predict how people actually behave.

“ThroughSpan is what happens when you aim the second discipline at the first problem.”

Eric Sorenson, Founder & Managing Partner

ThroughSpan gets called in when important transactions or initiatives are stuck, threatened, or unusually difficult—and success depends on getting people and institutions to act.

Typical situations include stalled transactions, contested projects, high-stakes disputes, and major business initiatives where the conventional approach isn't getting results.

  • Stalled Transactions & Projects

  • Market Entry & Expansion

  • Complex Acquisitions & Integrations

  • High-Stakes Disputes & Negotiations

Through
Understanding how value is expected to be created—from the economics of the thesis through the dependencies required to realize it.

Span
Connecting the people and institutions inside and outside the enterprise whose actions determine whether that value materializes.

Where ThroughSpan is Most Valuable

660% + $60 Million
Sales + Profit Increase

$500 Million
New Customer Contracts

Sited, Permitted, & Accelerated
Multiple Energy Generation Projects

Case Studies

Leadership

Eric Sorenson

Eric Sorenson
Founder & Managing Partner

EricS@ThroughSpan.com

Eric Sorenson co-founded, built and led Strategies 360 into one of the most influential strategy and public affairs firms in the western U.S., with 22 offices across 12 states and D.C. and 20%+ annual growth over 15 years, and was the principal architect of its growth and commercial success. Earlier, he built Chicago-based Marketing 360 into a global market strategy firm. He spent ten years at Northwestern’s Kellogg School, including eight years as a professor and four leading its Center for Retail Management, where he pioneered early applications of machine learning to understand customer behavior. Eric holds an MBA from Kellogg and a BA in Economics from Stanford.

ThroughSpan is built around senior expertise, not a consulting pyramid. Eric leads every engagement directly and brings in experienced specialists when the situation requires additional industry, functional or stakeholder expertise.

When significant value rests on the actions of critical people and institutions, ThroughSpan identifies the hidden dependencies and builds the conditions for success.

Something important isn't moving?

If a valuable transaction, dispute, or business initiative is stalled by complicated interests or institutional obstacles, let's talk about what it would take to get it done.