PLANNING TO VALUE WITH OBEYA: TURNING AMBITION INTO DIRECTION WITH TOON WIJNANDS
Planning often starts with ambition. But ambition alone does not create value.
Within the Obeya approach, planning becomes a structured way of translating long-term objectives into tangible direction. Yearly goals are defined, broken down into milestones, and plotted across time. This is not done by way of a rigid blueprint, but rather as a living framework. One that invites review, adjustment, and sharpening along the way.
The leadership team at Essent IT works with the understanding that long-term strategy only becomes meaningful when it is visible, measurable, and regularly discussed. That rhythm matters.
Every quarter, there is space for reflection and for planning the next three months. What have we learned? What needs adjustment? Where do priorities shift? With each cycle, what may have started broad becomes more precise. What once felt vague gains clarity.
Toon emphasises that yearly objectives only work when they are translated into milestones that are plotted in time and actively followed up. Without that breakdown, long-term ambition risks remaining abstract.
Between those quarterly moments, shorter feedback loops keep the direction steady. Every two weeks, progress is reviewed. Not by discussing the entire board, as that would dilute focus, but by zooming in on the outliers. Toon points out that reviewing the whole board every time is inefficient; the real value lies in discussing deviations, where results differ from expectations and require decisions.
This balance between long-term orientation and short-term follow-up creates both overview and flexibility. Plans may change due to delays or unforeseen circumstances. What matters is that adjustments are made consciously, without losing sight of long-term goals.
As Toon advises, planning should never drift away from the strategic horizon: flexibility is necessary, but not at the expense of direction.
Seeing the whole system
Planning to value requires looking beyond individual metrics. Customer satisfaction, for example, does not stand on its own. It is connected to uptime, delivery reliability, staffing levels, and operational flow.
Toon describes the organisation as a conveyor belt: every part influences the next, and optimising a single step without considering the system rarely improves overall performance.
That systems perspective shapes the dialogue in the Obeya room. Discussions are not limited to isolated numbers; they explore relationships. Where does a delay originate? Which upstream factor influences downstream performance? What does this mean for customers?
He stresses the importance of looking at the whole, not just the metric, because focusing on one indicator can obscure underlying causes. By visualising connections on the board, the team gains shared insight. It becomes easier to see cause and effect. It becomes easier to make decisions that serve the bigger picture.
Explicit goals, shared ownership
Working this way forces clarity. Goals and milestones must be explicit. Expectations must be visible. Assumptions must be discussed. Toon notes here that this explicitness can feel demanding: if goals are not clearly defined, the difficulty quickly becomes visible. Yet that transparency enables the whole team to contribute to making progress together.
Preparation supports that clarity. Visual markers ahead of meetings highlight where attention is required. Discussions focus on interpretation and decision-making rather than re-explaining data. He sees structure not as control, but as a way to create efficient discussions and meaningful team interaction.
Avoiding overload, enabling better decisions
A clear overview prevents overload. When long-term objectives are connected to current performance, prioritisation becomes easier. Decisions are made with a clear understanding of their contribution to company goals.
Quarterly reviews sharpen the plan. Rolling three-month outlooks ensure that the future is continuously refined rather than fixed once a year and forgotten.
Each quarter should make the picture sharper, Toon explains, moving from something vague to something concrete.
Planning to value is therefore not about planning more. It is about planning deliberately. This includes aligning daily work with strategic ambition and ensuring that energy is invested where it creates the most impact.
Through structured review, explicit milestones and a shared systems perspective, the leadership team at Essent IT thus creates a way of working that turns ambition into measurable value.
Not by planning more. But by planning with purpose.
Next up: Roel on being financially in control
Toon showed us how moving from plan to value sharpens our focus on what truly matters. Next, Roel Herckenrath takes us into the financial heartbeat of that journey.