The method
The Slotta method.
From decision to result.
The Slotta method is the cycle I run every mandate by. Four stages: situation, straight talk, execution, result. It grew out of four major transformations in banks – it was not invented at a desk.
Why a method
Between decision and result
Most transformations in companies and banks do not fail because of the concept. They fail between decision and result: nobody knows the starting point precisely, the direction is unclear, implementation gets stuck in the steering committee because people are not enabled, and in the end nobody measures what it achieved.
The Slotta method closes exactly these four gaps. It is the cycle I run every mandate by – as an interim manager, in a transformation and in sparring.
The four stages
Four stages, one cycle
Read it from the bottom up, the way a lighthouse is built: without a foundation no tower stands, and the light is what becomes visible in the end. After the last stage the cycle starts again from a new situation.
The four stages of the Slotta method
01
Foundation
Situation
Where the organisation really stands, measured and recorded before the start: activity, behaviour, result, return. Every later result is measured against this baseline.
02
Tower
Straight talk
A direction the board can state in one sentence. A few priorities instead of many initiatives. The leadership team commits visibly and in writing.
03
Gallery
Execution
Enable first, then demand results: people know and are able to do what is expected of them. Implementation happens in day-to-day business, not in presentations, with leadership and coaching in the field. Obstacles are removed while they are still small.
04
Light
Result
Results are measured against the baseline from stage 1. A checkpoint follows after 90 days, then the cycle starts again.
Origin
Why the lighthouse: the attitude behind the method
The method follows an attitude that is older than any management model. From around 300 BC the Stoics in Athens taught a core rule that is surprisingly modern: distinguish what you can influence from what you cannot, and act with full consistency where you can make a difference.
“If a man knows not to which port he sails, no wind is favourable.”
Seneca wrote this to a friend, not to a board. It still applies to every programme: without a clear destination, neither budget nor staff will help. That is why, once the situation is clear, the method first states the destination in plain terms.
This is exactly what a transformation demands of leadership. Not every market situation, regulation or interest rate decision can be steered. Knowing your own starting point, setting the direction, executing with enabled teams and measuring within your own organisation can. The four stages stand for exactly these four levers.
And why the lighthouse? It is the most stoic of all buildings: it stands whatever the weather and gives others orientation. That is the role I take on in a mandate.
Context
The Slotta method and the PDCA cycle
Anyone with a background in quality management or Six Sigma will recognise the kinship: the Slotta method stands in the tradition of Deming’s PDCA cycle – plan, do, check, act. It adds to it at two points where (bank) programmes most often fail in practice: a measured baseline before the plan, and enabling people as a fixed part of execution.
01
PDCA: no step of its own
Situation
The baseline is taken before planning starts. Without it, nothing can be proven at the end.
02
PDCA: Plan
Straight talk
Not just a plan, but a commitment by leadership that everyone in the organisation can see.
03
PDCA: Do
Execution
Knowledge and training come before results are expected. Then leadership in day-to-day business and coaching in the field instead of implementation by circular.
04
PDCA: Check and Act
Result
The chain of effects is followed all the way to return, with a fixed checkpoint after 90 days.
I examined the underlying reasoning in my MBA master’s thesis at FH Burgenland, which was graded “excellent”. Using the branch turnaround at GE Money Bank Austria as a case, it asks how change becomes an opportunity for sustainable growth in earnings and employee motivation. It examines strategy, knowledge, training and coaching in the field as levers that only work together.
The academic foundation behind it:
Evidence
Where the method comes from
The Slotta method has grown over time. It brings together what has demonstrably worked in my mandates.
Programm Adler, Volksbank association (2019–2022)
Nine banks in one common structure, steered through uniform monitoring, completed ahead of schedule according to the Volksbank Wien investor presentation.
Branch turnaround at GE Money Bank Austria
36 loss-making branches became a profitable sales network, with more than 60% growth in lending volume within nine months.
Both cases in detail:
Where to start
Where you come in
No two organisations are alike. That is why not every mandate starts at stage 1. Where you come in depends on your situation – each of my formats works on one or two stages.
Stage 2 · Straight talk
The direction cannot yet be stated in one sentence
With an outside view for your strategy off-site or the transformation off-site day.
Stage 3 · Implementation
The plan is in place, but execution is not moving
With interim management, a mandate in transformation & change or facilitation & workshops.
Stage 4 · Result
You want to know what it achieved
With the implementation check: half a day that tests results against the baseline.
Fees, credits and terms for all formats: Fees & terms →
Which of the four stages is missing in your organisation?
In 30 minutes we will both know where the lever is. Free of charge and with no obligation.