SOAR: strengths, opportunities, aspirations, results

A strengths-first alternative to SWOT that starts from what you do well and what you want to build, applied to your target level, with an example.

Where it comes from. SOAR was introduced by Jacqueline Stavros, David Cooperrider and D. Lynn Kelley in “Strategic Inquiry with Appreciative Intent: Inspiration to SOAR, a New Framework for Strategic Planning”, AI Practitioner, November 2003 (a copy of the article). It grew out of Appreciative Inquiry, the approach Cooperrider developed, and Stavros has since described that history in AI Practitioner, May 2024.

What it is

SOAR has four parts:

Strengths: what you already do well, and what you have that others don’t.
Opportunities: what is open to you outside the business: demand, gaps, partners.
Aspirations: what you want the business to become.
Results: how you will know you got there, in things you can measure.

Its authors present it as an alternative to SWOT that keeps the strengths and opportunities and replaces weaknesses and threats with aspirations and measurable results. It does not pretend problems don’t exist; it starts from what works and points it at a goal.

When to use it

When you have chosen the level you want to build (try the self-evaluation, which ends with a short SOAR worksheet for your result) and need to turn it into a plan.
With a family business or a small team, where everyone needs to agree on the goal.
Alongside a GAP analysis (what is missing) and SWOT and TOWS (what could go wrong).

How to do it

Write the aspiration first, in one sentence: the level and sub-level you want to reach, and by when.
List three to five strengths that will help you get there. Be specific: “credit from two suppliers for 30 days”, not “good relationships”.
List the opportunities outside the business that those strengths fit.
Set three to five results you can count in 12 months.

Worked example: a dealer aiming for a group of outlets

Hypothetical An authorised two-wheeler dealer (2.2) aiming for three outlets (2.4)

Strengths: a showroom that meets its targets, a trained service team, a good name in the town, ₹1,00,00,000 of own money.
Opportunities: two nearby towns without a dealer for the brand; the brand is looking for dealers there.
Aspirations: become a three-outlet dealer group within three years.
Results (in three years): three outlets, total investment of ₹3,00,00,000, and a yearly profit of ₹54,00,000.

Checking the results add up:

Return on investment: ₹54,00,000 ÷ ₹3,00,00,000 × 100 = 18%
Money still to raise: ₹3,00,00,000 − ₹1,00,00,000 = ₹2,00,00,000
Payback, if all the profit came in as cash: ₹3,00,00,000 ÷ ₹54,00,000 = 5.56 years

Writing the results as numbers is what makes SOAR useful: the dealer can now see that the plan needs ₹2,00,00,000 of outside money, which leads straight to stock finance and dealership ROI.

A worksheet you can fill in

Copy these four headings onto paper or into a note, or use the worksheet on your self-evaluation result, which runs in your browser and sends nothing.

Heading	Write
Strengths	Three to five things you already do well that matter for your target level
Opportunities	Demand, gaps or partners outside the business that fit those strengths
Aspirations	One sentence: the level and sub-level you want to reach, and by when
Results	Three to five things you can count in 12 months

Common mistakes

Writing a wish list. Aspirations need a level, a sub-level and a date.
Vague strengths. “Hard-working” is not a strength a competitor lacks. “Same-day delivery to 300 shops” is.
Results you can’t count. “Grow a lot” is not a result; “₹2,00,00,000 of sales” is.
Skipping the risks. SOAR starts positive on purpose. Follow it with a GAP analysis and a look at threats in SWOT and TOWS.

SOAR is Jacqueline Stavros, David Cooperrider and D. Lynn Kelley's, from their 2003 AI Practitioner article linked above. The explanation, the worksheet and the example are ours.