The Brushton Group

ADVISORY LANDSCAPE

Brushton Diagnostic

We deconstruct the work before the room does. Choose the firms your strategy would be judged against, see the standard they apply, and score your plan across the six parameters that decide whether it survives scrutiny: market dynamics, competitive position, commercial model, evidence base, executability, and the financial case.

16

Firms on the panel

6

Scoring parameters

12

Assessment questions

The Brushton Group has developed an AI-enhanced review that scores strategic documents, product and market plans, go-to-market strategies, board decks, and growth plans against the primary methodologies used by the business world's most reputable strategy firms. It is designed to identify gaps, omissions, opportunities, and areas of weakness within a submitted plan before it reaches the people who will judge it.

There are two methods to gauge a plan's current score. The first is the 12-question diagnostic, best suited to a fast self-assessment when you do not yet have a formal document or want a quick read on where a plan stands. The second is to upload your collateral and have our engine map it against the chosen firms' methodologies, best suited when you have a board deck, strategy memo, or plan ready for a deeper, document-grounded review. Either method yields a score across the six parameters, benchmarked against the highest standard among the firms you select, and highlights where the plan is strong and where it would draw scrutiny.

Two Methods for Diagnostic Analysis

Take the guided diagnostic yourself, or submit your strategy collateral for an AI-derived analysis applying your chosen strategic frameworks, reviewed and enhanced by The Brushton Group.

Take the 12-question diagnostic

Answer twelve questions, two for each of the six parameters. Your scorecard delivers a score for every parameter and an overall score on a four-point scale, benchmarked against the bar set by the firms you selected. Complete in under five minutes.

Start the diagnostic

Submit your strategy document for analysis

Submit your board deck, strategy memo, or planning document in PDF, Word, PowerPoint, Excel, or text format. Your submission receives an AI-derived analysis applying your chosen strategic frameworks, reviewed and enhanced by The Brushton Group.

Upload a document

Below are 16 highly regarded firms, listed with their strengths and areas of less focus. Depending on what you are evaluating, take a moment to choose the firm methodologies that best match your situation.

Whose methodology would you like to use to evaluate your strategy?

Select the firms your management, board, investors, or acquirer would hire to pressure-test the plan. Pick as many as you like.

Step 1 of 3 - Choose your evaluators. Each firm below is profiled by its strengths and areas of less focus across the six scoring parameters. Your selections set the benchmark: your plan is measured against the highest standard among the firms you choose. Filter by category or pick individually, and select as many as apply.

Categories

  • MBB. Industry shorthand for McKinsey, Bain, and BCG. The three top-tier strategy consulting firms by reputation, fee rates, and senior-executive access.
  • Big Four. Deloitte, PwC, EY, and KPMG. The four largest professional services firms globally, originally audit practices that now span audit, tax, consulting, and advisory.
  • Tier 2. Mid-sized global strategy firms with strong sector or functional depth, typically smaller than MBB but more specialized than the Big Four consulting practices.
  • Global integrated. Large firms combining strategy, technology, and operations at scale, typically with tens of thousands of employees and a technology-implementation core. Accenture is the canonical example.
  • Specialist. Firms focused on a specific function (pricing, commercial execution) or industry rather than broad corporate strategy. Examples here: AlixPartners, ZS, Simon-Kucher.

The six parameters

  • Score. Each firm is rated on six parameters, weighted equally. Ratings map to points: Very high earns 4, High earns 3, Medium earns 2. Your assessment benchmark is the highest rating among your selected firms on each parameter. Each firm's Strengths and Less focus lines are plain-language summaries of those same ratings.
  • Market dynamics (Mkt). How rigorously the firm evaluates market sizing, timing, and the tailwinds or headwinds behind a plan.
  • Competitive position (Compete). How deeply the firm tests differentiation, defensibility, and anticipated competitor response.
  • Commercial model (Comm). How much weight the firm puts on go-to-market motion, pricing, channel leverage, and revenue architecture.
  • Evidence base (Evid). The research, data, and customer validation standard the firm expects behind a plan's claims.
  • Executability (Exec). How hard the firm tests sequencing, resourcing, and operating model realism.
  • Financial & value case (Fin). The bar the firm sets for unit economics, ROI quantification, and the credibility of the value story.

Value levels

  • Very high. The firm leads the market on this attribute.
  • High. The firm is strong on this attribute and competes for engagements where it matters.
  • Medium. The firm has capability here but does not lead with it.

Submit your strategy document

Submit your board deck, strategy memo, or planning document in PDF, Word, PowerPoint, Excel, or text format. Your submission receives an AI-derived analysis applying your chosen strategic frameworks, reviewed and enhanced by The Brushton Group.

Click to select a file

PDF, Word, PowerPoint, Excel, or text. Max 10 MB.

Your document is held in strict confidence. It is used solely to produce your analysis, is reviewed only by The Brushton Group, is never shared with any third party, and is never published, excerpted, or reused for any other purpose.

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