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SWOT Analysis

Build a SWOT that is a working document: reorder points, weight them, and turn the matrix into the actions that follow from it.

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Start from a real example

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Strengths

0

Inside, and in your favour. Things you control.

    Weaknesses

    0

    Inside, and against you. Also things you control, which is why they are worth writing down.

      Opportunities

      0

      Outside, and in your favour if you move. Happening anyway, with or without you.

        Threats

        0

        Outside, and against you. Things you cannot prevent, only prepare for.

          0 points written, 0 of them placed across 4 boxes.

          What this canvas is telling you

          • Nothing written down yet. Start with whatever you already know and sort it afterwards.

          Frequently asked questions

          The questions people actually ask about this document.

          What is a SWOT analysis?
          Four boxes that force one comparison: what is inside your control against what is not, and what helps against what hurts. Strengths and weaknesses are internal, and you can change them. Opportunities and threats are external, and you can only respond to them. The value is in that axis, not in the four lists. A SWOT that ignores the inside and outside split is a page of opinions in a grid.
          How do I tell an opportunity from a strength?
          Ask whether it would still be true if your organisation disappeared tomorrow. A growing market keeps growing, so it is an opportunity. A team that knows that market leaves with you, so it is a strength. The test sounds glib and it settles almost every argument people have while filling this in.
          How many points should each box have?
          Three to six. Past that you are listing rather than choosing, and a SWOT with thirty entries gets read once and never opened again. If you have more, ask which of them would actually change a decision; the rest belong in the notes, not on the canvas.
          Nobody wants to write the weaknesses. What do we do?
          Write them first, before the strengths, and write them as facts rather than judgements: support is at capacity, not support is weak. A SWOT with three strengths and one apologetic weakness is the most common version of this document and it is worth nothing, because the one box that could have changed the plan is the one that got softened.
          We have filled it in. Now what?
          Pair the boxes. A strength against an opportunity is where you move first. A weakness against a threat is what you fix or insure before it finds you. That pairing, sometimes called a TOWS, is where decisions come from. The four lists on their own are only the preparation.
          How is this different from a PESTLE analysis?
          A PESTLE only looks outward, in more detail: six categories of external force, with no claim about your own capability. It is the better tool for what is changing around us. A SWOT is the better tool for what we should do about it, because it puts your own strengths and weaknesses on the same page. Many teams run the PESTLE first and pour its findings into the two outer boxes of the SWOT.

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