Resource · Toolkit · Transformation and Performance · Strategy
The Turnaround Toolkit
A playbook for turnarounds in systemic crises, built on four stages: Anchor, Read, Counter, Sustain. Every module is summarised here, and the working files download straight after a short form.
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What is inside
4 stages, 10 modules, 5 tools.
Anchor, Read, Counter and Sustain: the modules follow the stages in the order you would use them, with an opening group before them and an appendix after.
- Modules 00, 01, 02Before you startWhat the toolkit is for, why systemic crises need their own playbook, and the four stages.
- Modules 03, 04AnchorTake control, and let cash lead through the first 30 days.Tools T1, T4
- Module 05ReadSeparate root causes from symptoms across five dimensions.
- Modules 06, 07CounterTurn the diagnostic into a plan, then carry the plan through execution.Tools T5, T2
- Module 08SustainTurn recovery into resilience that lasts.Tools T3
- Module 09AppendixBlank templates, a glossary, a decision rights map and references.
Get the working filesAll 10 modules and 5 tools as PDF, straight after a short form.
The modules, stage by stage
Before you start
What the toolkit is for, why systemic crises need their own playbook, and the four stages.
Orientation
What the toolkit is for, who it is written for, how to read it, and the fictional running case used throughout: a mid-sized European industrial company heading towards a covenant breach.
Why systemic crises need a distinct playbook
What makes a crisis systemic, a four-shock taxonomy, the five dimensions of resilience, and the dual-track principle: stabilise and transform at the same time.
The ARCS arc
The four stages, Anchor, Read, Counter and Sustain; where they depart from classical phase models, and the triggers for moving from one stage to the next.
Anchor
Take control, and let cash lead through the first 30 days.
Anchor, part 1: take control
The threshold decision, the blast radius diagnostic, strength and volatility positioning, a leadership credibility audit, and how to stand up a turnaround office.
Anchor, part 2: cash leads
The 13-week cash forecast, the liquidity levers and their sequence over the first 30 days, stakeholder communications, lender engagement and the daily cash stand-up.
13-week rolling cash forecast Tool
Weekly receipts and disbursements over the next 13 weeks, with the operating model around it: the owner, the cadence and the readings that trigger decisions. Filled in with the fictional Astrevia case as a worked example.
Stakeholder communications matrix Tool
Message, channel, cadence, sequence and failure mode for each constituency in the first 30 days.
Read
Separate root causes from symptoms across five dimensions.
Read: the diagnostic
Separating root causes from symptoms across five dimensions: financial, operational, digital, business model and organisational.
Counter
Turn the diagnostic into a plan, then carry the plan through execution.
Counter, part 1: the plan
From diagnostic to plan: three-horizon initiative sequencing, the initiative scoping standard, the 100-day plan, and the check that the plan adds up in the financials.
Counter, part 2: execution
Why turnarounds fail in execution: the governance cadence, initiative one-pagers, KPI selection, the transformation dashboard, drift detection and the change management inflection in months four to six.
100-day plan Tool
The initiative portfolio on one page over 14 weeks, by workstream, with owner, value and status on every bar.
Initiative one-pager Tool
One page per initiative, with eight standard sections, updated weekly by its owner.
Sustain
Turn recovery into resilience that lasts.
Sustain
Turning recovery into resilience: steady-state governance, the resilience scorecard, early-warning signals, pre-positioning, institutional memory and the board's role.
Five-dimension resilience scorecard Tool
Quarterly scores from 1 to 5 across financial, operational, digital, business model and organisational resilience, with trend, thresholds and owners. A blank template and the fictional Astrevia example.
Appendix
Blank templates, a glossary, a decision rights map and references.
Appendix: tools and templates
Blank templates for the 13-week cash forecast, the initiative one-pager, the resilience scorecard, the stakeholder matrix and the 100-day plan, with a glossary, a decision rights map and references.
Get the working files
All ten modules and the five tools, as PDF. Leave your name and email and the download page opens straight away.