Five dimensions. Every transformation lives or dies on all five.
SPICE is the lens I bring to every engagement, every talk, and 13 years of writing. Most transformation advice covers one or two dimensions and hopes the rest sort themselves out. They don’t.
The Five Dimensions
S — Strategy
Is this the right bet? Strategy asks whether the transformation serves the business — not the technology roadmap, not the vendor’s quota, the business. Most AI programs fail here before they start: impressive demos attached to no business outcome.
P — Politics
Who has to say yes — and who can quietly say no? Every organization has a power map. Transformation that ignores it gets slow-walked by the people it skipped. I map the politics before I propose the plan.
I — Innovation
Are you actually changing anything? Innovation distinguishes real change from rebranded status quo. New tools on old processes is theater. I pressure-test whether the “transformation” transforms.
C — Culture
Will the organization absorb this? Culture eats operating models for breakfast. Incentives, habits, and unwritten rules decide whether new ways of working survive first contact with a bad quarter.
E — Execution
Can you ship it? Strategy without execution is a slide deck. Execution covers governance, operating cadence, and the unglamorous work of getting pilots into production — where most AI programs go to die.
How I use it
In advisory: every recommendation gets a five-dimension read. If the politics don’t work, the strategy doesn’t matter — I’ll tell you that.
In speaking: talks are structured around whichever dimensions your audience is getting wrong.
In writing: the framework behind 13 years of Khan’s Blog.
Try it yourself: Take the free SPICE Assessment →
Fifteen questions, five minutes. See where your organization stands on each dimension.