Explore the 20 Pains
20 Pains — Something gets stuck or keeps recurring.
What you experience may not be where the problem starts.
Falling margins. Recurring errors. Work pressure. Unclear responsibilities. Decisions that keep coming back to you. What you experience can have different organizational causes. Route ICR helps you look beyond the symptom — and see which parts of the organization may need attention.
Falling margins. Recurring errors. Work pressure. Unclear responsibilities. Decisions that keep coming back to you. What you experience can have different organizational causes. Route ICR helps you look beyond the symptom — and see which parts of the organization may need attention.
We are not reaching enough of the people we want to reach.
We are not reaching enough of the people we want to reach.
What you may experience: You see a lot of activity, but too few of the right people are being reached or responding.
Where Route ICR helps you look: Ambition → Business Model: Value Propositions, Customer Segments, Customer Relationships and Channels
Relevant ICR Objectives alongside ICR Objective 1: Image & Branding (4), Marketing Strategy (11), Sales Policy & Plan (12), Manageable Sales Process (13) and Manage Sales Dependencies (14).
We get enough inquiries, but too few orders.
We get enough inquiries, but too few orders.
What you may experience: Your team puts a lot of energy into leads, but too few convert into orders. You wonder whether you are attracting the right leads and applying enough focus in marketing and sales.
Where Route ICR helps you look: Ambition → Business Model: Value Propositions, Customer Segments, Customer Relationships and Channels
Relevant ICR Objectives alongside ICR Objective 1: Image & Branding (4), Marketing Strategy (11), Sales Policy & Plan (12), Manageable Sales Process (13) and Manage Sales Dependencies (14).
Customers do not clearly understand why they should choose us.
Customers do not clearly understand why they should choose us.
What you may experience: Conversations quickly shift to price or individual features rather than the value that sets you apart.
Where Route ICR helps you look: Ambition → Business Model: Value Propositions, Customer Segments, Customer Relationships and Channels
Relevant ICR Objectives alongside ICR Objective 1: Image & Branding (4), Marketing Strategy (11), Sales Policy & Plan (12), Manageable Sales Process (13) and Manage Sales Dependencies (14).
Customers leave or stay with us for less time than expected.
Customers leave or stay with us for less time than expected.
What you may experience: Customers drop out or stay for less time than expected. It is not always clear where their expectations and the actual customer experience begin to diverge.
Where Route ICR helps you look: Ambition → Business Model: Value Propositions, Key Activities, Customer Segments and Customer Relationships
Relevant ICR Objectives alongside ICR Objective 1: Image & Branding (4), Align Processes (6), Marketing Strategy (11), Sales Policy & Plan (12), Manageable Sales Process (13), Manage Sales Dependencies (14), Core Process Strategy (21), Manageable Core Process (22), Manage Core Process Dependencies (23) and Quality Management (27).
Revenue is declining and we do not really understand why.
Revenue is declining and we do not really understand why.
What you may experience: You see revenue falling, but it is not clear what is causing it. Is it the market, the quality of the offering, customers leaving, fewer new customers, or the way marketing and sales are working?
Where Route ICR helps you look: Use the full ICR model to investigate systematically where the revenue decline may be coming from. Make visible what is changing in the Business Model, the organization and execution, how these elements are connected, and where deviations, uncertainties or dependencies arise.
Recognize something? Discover where your organization stands.
Get a first indication across eight fundamental areas of your organization.
Get a first indication across eight fundamental areas of your organization.
Revenue is growing, but profit is lagging behind.
Revenue is growing, but profit is lagging behind.
What you may experience: You celebrate commercial successes but wonder why they are not reflected in the bottom line.
Where Route ICR helps you look: Look beyond the numbers. Changes in price, volume, customer or offering mix, and costs show what is happening to margin and results, but not yet why. The real causes may lie in different parts of the organization. Consider choices in your Business Model, pricing, inefficient processes, additional capacity, quality issues, unclear responsibilities or insufficiently reliable management information. Use the full ICR model to make visible where revenue growth is not being converted sufficiently into results and which underlying causes need to be addressed.
We regularly struggle to pay our bills on time.
We regularly struggle to pay our bills on time.
What you may experience: You feel pressure because the amount and timing of cash inflows and outflows are not sufficiently aligned. As a result, you cannot always meet payment commitments, even when the business appears to be performing well on paper.
Where Route ICR helps you look: Look beyond the cash flow forecast. It shows when you expect money to come in and go out and where shortfalls may arise, but not always why. The underlying causes may lie in different parts of the organization. Consider margins, payment terms with customers and suppliers, receivables, inventory, investments, rapid growth or inefficient processes. Also consider customer commitments that are not met properly, causing invoices to be paid later or not in full, or requiring credit notes. Use the full ICR model to make visible what is causing the liquidity pressure and which underlying causes need to be addressed.
Our costs are rising faster than our revenue.
Our costs are rising faster than our revenue.
What you may experience: You see costs continuing to rise and wonder why it is becoming increasingly difficult to retain a sufficient profit.
Where Route ICR helps you look: Look beyond the cost trend itself. The figures show which costs are rising and by how much, but not always what is driving the increase or why sufficient revenue is not being generated in return. The underlying causes may lie in different parts of the organization. Consider procurement, staffing capacity, inefficient processes, rework, complexity of the offering, investments, pricing, or customer and product mix. Use the full ICR model to make visible why costs and revenue are moving out of balance and which underlying causes need to be addressed.
We depend on a few large customers.
We depend on a few large customers.
What you may experience: A small number of customers account for a substantial share of your revenue and cash flow. You wonder what will happen to the organization if one or more of these customers buy less or disappear altogether.
Where Route ICR helps you look: Ambition → Business Model: Value Propositions, Customer Segments, Customer Relationships and Revenue Streams, including relevant Continuity Goals
Relevant ICR Objectives alongside ICR Objective 1: Results & Cash Flow (9). Make visible how dependent the organization actually is on these customers and what a partial or complete loss could mean for results, cash flow and continuity. Within the relevant theme pages, also make explicit which uncertainties and risks arise from this dependency, which risks you are willing to accept, and where control measures are needed. In particular, build on the ICR Growth Principle InControl.
Our sales forecast keeps missing the mark.
Our sales forecast keeps missing the mark.
What you may experience: You base important decisions and your cash flow forecast on the sales forecast, but actual orders, revenue or timing regularly differ from what was expected. You wonder why you cannot rely on the forecast enough.
Where Route ICR helps you look: Ambition → Business Model: Key Activities, Customer Segments, Customer Relationships, Key Needs and Revenue Streams
Relevant ICR Objectives alongside ICR Objective 1: Align Processes (6), Results & Cash Flow (9), Sales Policy & Plan (12), Manageable Sales Process (13), Manage Sales Dependencies (14), Integrated Performance Management (28) and Reliable Management Information (29). Investigate how the sales forecast is created, who is responsible for the underlying assumptions, and how current customer information is recorded, assessed and updated. Then make visible how the commercial expectation is translated into revenue and cash flow, and whether the organization can deliver the expected orders at the planned time. In particular, build on the ICR Growth Principle Results-driven by consistently connecting expectations with actual results and using deviations to improve the quality of future forecasts.
We fail to keep customer commitments too often.
We fail to keep customer commitments too often.
What you may experience: You repeatedly have to explain why something once again did not go as agreed, and you want to understand where customer commitments and actual execution begin to diverge.
Where Route ICR helps you look: Ambition → Business Model: Value Propositions, Key Activities, Customer Relationships and Key Needs
Relevant ICR Objectives alongside ICR Objective 1: Align Processes (6), Sales Policy & Plan (12), Manageable Sales Process (13), Manage Sales Dependencies (14), Core Process Strategy (21), Manageable Core Process (22), Manage Core Process Dependencies (23) and Quality Management (27). Investigate what is agreed with customers, whether those commitments are feasible for the organization, and how they are translated into execution. Make visible where, across the chain from customer commitment to handover and execution, expectations, responsibilities, capacity or ways of working begin to diverge.
Errors, firefighting and rework keep coming back.
Errors, firefighting and rework keep coming back.
What you may experience: Your team repeatedly spends time and energy correcting, repairing and solving issues. You wonder why the same problems keep returning and structural improvement fails to materialize.
Where Route ICR helps you look: Look beyond the problem that is visible at that moment. The place where an error has to be corrected or a fire breaks out does not have to be the place where the real cause lies. The cause may originate elsewhere in the organization, for example in unclear responsibilities, insufficient knowledge, poor alignment between processes, dependencies, choices in ways of working, or insufficiently reliable information. Use the full ICR model to make visible why problems arise, why they keep returning, and what is needed to remove the underlying causes structurally. Use the ICR Growth Principle Culture of Improvement to move from correcting and repairing to systematic learning and improvement.
Recognize something? Discover where your organization stands.
Get a first indication across eight fundamental areas of your organization.
Recognize something? Discover where your organization stands.
Get a first indication across eight fundamental areas of your organization.
Everyone is busy, but the most important goals are not being achieved.
Everyone is busy, but the most important goals are not being achieved.
What you may experience: You see everyone working hard and a lot happening. Yet the most important goals are not, or not sufficiently, achieved. You wonder where all that effort is actually going.
Where Route ICR helps you look: Ambition → Business Model → relevant Continuity Goals
Relevant ICR Objectives alongside ICR Objective 1: Monitor the Long-Term Plan (2) and Translate the Long-Term Plan (10) → Short-Term Goals & Actions. Starting from the elements of the Business Model, investigate which continuity goals and strategic objectives have been set and how they have been translated into short-term goals and concrete actions in day-to-day processes. Make visible whether daily efforts actually contribute to the most important goals, where the connection is missing, and where time and capacity are being spent on other matters. Use the ICR Growth Principle Targeted Focus to focus attention on what truly has priority for realizing the Ambition and Business Model.
Priorities keep changing, teams lose sight of the bigger picture and lack control.
Priorities keep changing, teams lose sight of the bigger picture and lack control.
What you may experience: You believe you have provided direction, but notice that people, especially under pressure, still make different choices from the ones you had in mind.
Where Route ICR helps you look: Ambition → Business Model → relevant Continuity Goals
Relevant ICR Objectives alongside ICR Objective 1: Monitor the Long-Term Plan (2), Management Cycle (8) and Translate the Long-Term Plan (10) → Short-Term Goals & Actions. Investigate whether everyone is clear about what really matters and how that translates into day-to-day choices. Make visible where priorities become unclear, why people make different choices, and what is needed to stay on course together, even under pressure. In particular, build on the ICR Growth Principles Targeted Focus and Team Intuition.
Decisions end up on my desk and quietly pile up there.
Decisions end up on my desk and quietly pile up there.
What you may experience: You want to give people responsibility, but notice that they still look to you for all kinds of decisions. Decisions quietly pile up on your desk and progress becomes dependent on your availability.
Where Route ICR helps you look: Ambition → Business Model → relevant Continuity Goals
Relevant ICR Objectives alongside ICR Objective 1: Monitor the Long-Term Plan (2), Internal Organizational Quality (5), Management Cycle (8) and Translate the Long-Term Plan (10) → Short-Term Goals & Actions. Investigate whether and how continuity goals and strategic objectives have been translated into responsibilities, authorities, short-term goals and daily actions. Make visible why decisions still end up with you and what people need in order to make the right choices independently within their responsibilities. In particular, build on the ICR Growth Principles Team Intuition and InControl.
People have different views about who is responsible for what.
People have different views about who is responsible for what.
What you may experience: You notice that capable people sometimes get in each other’s way or leave things undone because not everyone has the same understanding of who is responsible for what.
Where Route ICR helps you look: Ambition → Business Model → relevant Continuity Goals
Relevant ICR Objectives alongside ICR Objective 1: Monitor the Long-Term Plan (2), Internal Organizational Quality (5) and Align Processes (6) → Short-Term Goals & Actions. Investigate whether it is clear who owns the relevant elements of the Business Model, the Continuity Goals and the strategic objectives, and how the associated responsibilities flow through the organization and day-to-day execution. Make visible where responsibilities are unclear, overlap, or fall into gaps between people and processes. In particular, build on the ICR Growth Principles Team Intuition and InControl.
Critical knowledge or relationships depend too heavily on one person.
Critical knowledge or relationships depend too heavily on one person.
What you may experience: You know that the continuity of your organization becomes vulnerable when someone leaves, is absent for an extended period, or is simply unavailable.
Where Route ICR helps you look: Ambition → Business Model → relevant Continuity Goals
Relevant ICR Objectives alongside ICR Objective 1: Internal Organizational Quality (5), Manage Sales Dependencies (14), HR Strategy (16), Employee Development (17), Manage Procurement Dependencies (20), Manage Core Process Dependencies (23) and Manage Investment Dependencies (26). Investigate where critical knowledge, experience or relationships are concentrated in one or a few people and what happens if they are temporarily or permanently unavailable. Within the relevant theme pages, make explicit which uncertainties and risks arise from these dependencies, which risks you are willing to accept, and where control measures are needed. In particular, build on the ICR Growth Principles InControl and Team Intuition.
Work pressure has been high for a long time and remains high. People are becoming exhausted.
Work pressure has been high for a long time and remains high. People are becoming exhausted.
What you may experience: You see a great deal of effort and commitment, while at the same time noticing that workload remains structurally high. Working even harder is not the answer, and you wonder why the organization keeps demanding so much from people.
Where Route ICR helps you look: Use the full ICR model to investigate why workload remains structurally high and where that pressure arises in the organization. Examine the connections between Ambition, Business Model, Continuity Goals, strategic objectives, short-term goals and the resulting concrete actions, responsibilities, capacity, processes and day-to-day execution. Make visible where people are structurally being asked to do more than they can sustain, why that happens, and what is needed to address the underlying causes. In particular, build on the ICR Growth Principles Targeted Focus, Team Intuition and Culture of Improvement.
Teams work hard, but too often work past one another.
Teams work hard, but too often work past one another.
What you may experience: You see good intentions and a great deal of effort, but notice that teams do not always work from the same shared picture. What seems logical or important to one team does not automatically align with what another team needs.
Where Route ICR helps you look: Ambition → Business Model → relevant Continuity Goals
Relevant ICR Objectives alongside ICR Objective 1: Monitor the Long-Term Plan (2), Internal Organizational Quality (5), Align Processes (6), Translate the Long-Term Plan (10), Manage Sales Dependencies (14), Manage Procurement Dependencies (20), Manage Core Process Dependencies (23) and Manage Investment Dependencies (26) → Short-Term Goals & Actions. Investigate whether teams are working from the same direction and goals, who is responsible for what, and where their work depends on one another. Make visible where goals, responsibilities, choices, information or handovers are insufficiently aligned and what is needed to work together as one organization. In particular, build on the ICR Growth Principles Team Intuition and Targeted Focus.
We only discover risks or deviations when things go wrong.
We only discover risks or deviations when things go wrong.
What you may experience: You want uncertainties, risks, progress and deviations to become visible earlier, so you can consciously decide whether preventive measures or corrective action are needed instead of only being able to react after things go wrong.
Where Route ICR helps you look: Use the full ICR model to make uncertainties, risks, progress and deviations visible across the organization. Pay particular attention to the relevant ICR Objectives alongside ICR Objective 1: Monitor the Long-Term Plan (2), Strategic Balance (3), Management Cycle (8), Translate the Long-Term Plan (10), Integrated Performance Management (28) and Reliable Management Information (29). Within the relevant theme pages, make uncertainties and risks explicit, prioritize them, and consciously decide which risks you are willing to accept and where control measures are needed. Then track progress and deviations so you can determine in time whether corrective action is needed. In particular, build on the ICR Growth Principle InControl.
What you experience is only the starting point.
Get a first indication of where your organization stands across eight fundamental areas — and where there may be room to strengthen it.
Discover Where You Stand.
What you experience is only the starting point.
Get a first indication of where your organization stands across eight fundamental areas — and where there may be room to strengthen it.
Discover Where You Stand.
Questions about organizational pains
Why do organizational problems often keep coming back?
Recurring problems are not always caused by the issue that is most visible. Firefighting, unclear responsibilities, slow decisions or key-person dependency can be symptoms of underlying gaps or weak connections elsewhere in the organization. ICR makes the broader organizational playing field visible and helps teams identify connections that may otherwise remain unnoticed, so they can look beyond the immediate symptom.
Do we need to know the root cause before starting with ICR?
No. A pain or recurring problem can be the starting point. ICR helps place what you are experiencing within the broader organizational context and provides a structured route for exploring related objectives, responsibilities, risks and dependencies. This helps the team investigate what may be driving the issue before deciding what needs to change.
Questions about organizational pains
Why do organizational problems often keep coming back?
Recurring problems are not always caused by the issue that is most visible. Firefighting, unclear responsibilities, slow decisions or key-person dependency can be symptoms of underlying gaps or weak connections elsewhere in the organization. ICR makes the broader organizational playing field visible and helps teams identify connections that may otherwise remain unnoticed, so they can look beyond the immediate symptom.
Do we need to know the root cause before starting with ICR?
No. A pain or recurring problem can be the starting point. ICR helps place what you are experiencing within the broader organizational context and provides a structured route for exploring related objectives, responsibilities, risks and dependencies. This helps the team investigate what may be driving the issue before deciding what needs to change.
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