Define

In the Define Phase, the DR²IVE™ Initiative Champion defines the initial model and desired engagements internally and externally.  This requires five steps.

1. Initial Model Selection: The Champion decides on an initial DR²IVE™ Model that best fits the organization’s needs.  Usually an Industry Standard DR²IVE™ Model is selected.
2. Enterprise Collaboration:  Next, the Champion identifies other organizations within the enterprise that are potential collaborators for the ROADMAP Process.  Candidates include other business units and divisions.  Recently acquired businesses through merger or acquisition are among the most logical candidates. 
3. Alliance Collaboration:  The Champion rationalizes which external organizations, i.e. alliances, are candidates for collaboration.  If the organization has not categorized its external relationships to identify alliances, then the organization should first conduct a rationalization process.
4. Engagement Visualization:  The Champion considers the number of engagements that are needed.  Two types of engagements are possible: Single Organization Engagements and Multiple Organization Engagements.  A Roadmap Engagement Visualization may be used in this step to clarify the engagements using a simple illustration.
5. Explore Invitation:  the Champion invites professionals from his or her own organization and from the organizations selected for Multiple Organization Engagements to discuss the collaborative engagement opportunities in the Explore Phase.

In the first step of the Define Phase, the Champion decides on an initial DR²IVE™ Model that best fits their organization’s needs.  A customized model may be selected by choosing applicable core competency World-Class Management Step Charts. Most organizations prefer to use an Industry Standard Model with pre-selected World-Class Management Step Charts.  The Industry Standard Model for the Aerospace/Defense Industry DR²IVE™ Model is presented in the following figure.

Engagements are defined time periods when an organization plans to start and end a given DR²IVE™ Process.   An engagement may be either a Single Organization Engagement or a Multiple Organization Engagement.  Engagements in the SCORE and AUDIT Processes are Single Organization Engagements.  Engagements in the ROADMAP and ROBUST Processes are Multiple Organization Engagements.

The next figure illustrates how three organizations might “engage” with the five DR²IVE™ Processes to expand their organization’s frontiers and achieve Robust Roadmaps™.  Looking at the left side of the figure in the DESIGN column, three organizations are listed at the start of their journey.  Divisions A and B are part of Company Z.  Division G is part of a different company called Company Y.  Companies Z and Y consider each other an alliance.  Assume both companies have selected a DR²IVE™ Model with ten World-Class Management Step Charts.

Looking at the figure we can follow the journey of Division A.  In the DESIGN Process, Division A plans thirteen engagements and develops two charters.  Planning engagements and developing charters are the key outputs of the DESIGN Process. The engagements for Division A break down as follows:

• 10 SCORE Step Chart Single Organization Engagements
• 1 AUDIT Single Organization Engagement
• 1 ROADMAP Multiple Organization Engagement with Division B
• 1 ROBUST Multiple Enterprise Engagement with Company Y

Explore

In the Explore Phase, professionals from organizations selected by the DR²IVE™ Initiative Champion come together in either a physical or virtual meeting to determine how their organizations can collaboratively leverage DR²IVE™ for competitive advantage.  A group of five to six managers representing each organization is preferred for this phase.  A group of managers will be able to represent their organization best in the following activities that are designed to methodically reveal opportunities.

• DR²IVE™ Overview: A short overview of DR²IVE™ is needed to educate the participants before the next three discussions can start.
• DR²IVE™ Model Consensus: A physical or virtual meeting is held to discuss whether all organizations will select either: an Industry Standard DR²IVE™ Model, a customized model that will be the same for all participating organizations or individual customized models. 
• Roadmaps Opportunity Analysis: After the DR²IVE™ Model(s) have been selected, each organization should conduct a rough assessment of their current state on the charts selected and calculate a preliminary DR²IVE™ Score for their organization.  Then, the rough assessments can be compared to identify perceived gaps in core competency capabilities between the organizations.  
• Engagement Discovery:  Decisions are made as to what types of engagements the organizations will pursue.  The choices are as follows: Single Organization SCORE Step Chart Engagements, Single Organization AUDIT Engagements, Multiple Organization ROADMAP Engagements, and Multiple Organization ROBUST Engagements.

Select

In the Select Phase, each organization formally selects their DR²IVE™ Model and planned engagements.  The Explore Phase dealt with reaching consensus and agreement on the DR²IVE™ Model and engagements that each organization would undertake in the SCORE, AUDIT, ROADMAP and ROBUST Processes.  In this phase, the plan as articulated by the engagements is presented to upper management at each organization.  After any concerns are addressed, upper management must now provide support for each engagement.

Involve

Once engagements are set in the Select Phase, each organization assigns managers to the engagements in the Involve Phase.  The managers are invited to a physical or virtual meeting to introduce the DR²IVE™ Model and engagements selected previously.

Up to this point, the roles of key players in executing a DR²IVE™  Initiative have not been described.  Now that the level of involvement in the DR²IVE™  Processes has increased from a few managers developing the overall strategy to several teams of managers assigned to various engagements, the need to define the roles and responsibilities of the people involved is apparent.  To complete the journey to the Robust Frontier, four roles are needed: Champions, Reviewers, DRIVERs and Masters.  The four roles are described as follows:

• Champions:   Champions guide a DR²IVE™ Initiative through “active participation” leadership in the DESIGN Process and “passive authorization” leadership in the downstream processes of SCORE, AUDIT, ROADMAP and ROBUST Processes. 
• Reviewers: Reviewers are managers assigned to specific SCORE Engagements from a cross-section of departments and business areas throughout an organization.  Reviewers are also required in the AUDIT, ROADMAP and ROBUST Processes.
• DRIVERs:  A DRIVER is an individual formally educated as a Subject Matter Analysts (SMA) for specific World-Class Management Step Charts.  Each SCORE Step Chart Engagement requires assignment of at least one DRIVER to lead assessment of the chart.  In contrast to a Subject Matter Expert (SME), an SMA has less knowledge depth, but adequate breadth in the core competency to lead the chart assessment.
• Master: A Master is an individual that is formally educated in facilitating all DR²IVE™ Processes.  Masters are qualified to facilitate the process you are currently reading about, the DESIGN Process.  In the SCORE Process, Masters facilitate groups of DRIVERs in conducting assessments with the World-Class Management Step Charts.  In the AUDIT Process, Masters facilitate the AUDIT Process as Registrars to validate and verify the results of the SCORE Process.  (Note:  Masters that work with an organization as a Registrar cannot work with the organization in any other engagements.)   Masters also facilitate the ROADMAP and ROBUST Processes where they guide organizations in the development of their Collaborative Roadmaps.

Gauge

In the Gauge Phase, organizations that have selected multiple organization engagements coordinate with each other to set specific dates when the engagements will begin and end.  To set dates for the multiple organization engagements, each organization must first set specific dates for their own single organization engagements.  The resulting schedules provide a “gauge” indicating whether the engagements are on time or corrective action must be taken to meet agreed upon deadlines.

Negotiate

In the Negotiate Phase, Collaboration Charters are created for multiple organization engagements that summarize the following: type of engagement (from the Select Phase), resource commitments (from Involve Phase), engagement milestone schedule (from Gauge Phase), project return sharing guidelines, and authorizations from the corresponding Champions.

The primary negotiation that occurs in this phase is on the guidelines for sharing the returns from future collaborative projects.   Collaborative projects will be developed in the ROADMAP and ROBUST Processes.  Establishing the guidelines in the DESIGN Process reduces potential problems and speeds project evaluation in the ROADMAP and ROBUST Processes.