The volume of strategic information can feel overwhelming, enterprise leaders are asking how to better align plans with action and prove their teams are working on what matters most. Atlassian’s answer is a holistic framework called Enterprise Strategy and Planning (ESP), which unifies strategy-setting and execution into a single integrated discipline. This approach focuses on six critical facets of strategy (from goals and work to talent, funds, systems, and updates), managing them in unison to maintain alignment, visibility, and agility in pursuit of organizational objectives. In this blog, we explore Atlassian’s ESP approach, the key facets and principles behind it, and practical steps to elevate your strategic planning for greater success.

What is Enterprise Strategy and Planning (ESP)?

Enterprise Strategy and Planning (ESP) is Atlassian’s term for a unified, lifecycle approach to strategic management. It combines high-level strategy formulation with detailed planning, execution, and evaluation of work into one continuous process. In practice, ESP means concurrently managing six core facets of every strategic initiative: goals, work, talent, funds, systems, and updates. By addressing these facets together (rather than in silos), organizations can more effectively operationalize their strategy and adjust plans dynamically as conditions change.

Six Core Facets of ESP

In Atlassian’s ESP model, six core facets form the foundation of every strategic initiative. These facets cover all dimensions of planning, from defining objectives to tracking progress:

Goals: Clear, measurable outcomes that define what success looks like.
Work: The tasks, projects, and deliverables required to achieve the goals.
Talent: The people and skills needed to execute the work effectively.
Funds: The budget and financial resources allocated to the initiative.
Systems: The tools, platforms, and technologies supporting the work.
Updates: Ongoing progress reports that provide transparency and guide adjustments.

Illustration of business strategy planning showing multiple factors.

The "Strategy Cube" Perspective

To visualize how these facets work together, Atlassian introduces the concept of a “strategy cube.” The six facets are imagined as the faces of a cube representing a strategic priority or initiative. Rotating this cube allows leaders to examine the priority from different angles, revealing potential risks or gaps that might be missed if focusing on only one aspect. This three-dimensional view ensures that a change to one facet (for example, adding scope to the work) prompts re-evaluation of the others (such as adjusting timelines or resources). Atlassian also recommends breaking broad strategies into smaller, hierarchical focus areas (essentially sub-cubes) aligned to your organizational structure, making complex plans more manageable.

3D cube diagram with each face labeled as a different strategic facet

Key Beliefs Guiding Atlassian’s Approach

Atlassian’s approach to ESP is grounded in a few key beliefs:

Every organization engages in strategic planning at some level, but the maturity of their approach varies greatly.
ESP is methodology-agnostic and can be adapted to different business needs and ways of working.
Enterprise strategy should be managed as a formal discipline (similar to product lifecycle management) to steer efforts toward successful outcomes.

Maturity Stages in Enterprise Planning

Atlassian outlines an ESP maturity model with three stages of increasing integration and agility. In the Foundational stage, each facet is managed in isolation and strategy execution is haphazard, making it difficult to tie outcomes back to high-level goals. In the Developing stage, some facets (for example, goals and work) become partially connected and strategy is revisited more frequently; the organization sees more progress, but results are still not fully aligned to the strategy. In the Leading stage, all facets are managed together under a cohesive strategy, which is tracked throughout its lifecycle. This integrated approach yields true strategic agility and ensures a clear linkage from strategic plans to delivered outcomes.

Critical Gaps Addressed by ESP

Why adopt an ESP approach? Many organizations struggle with common pain points in their current planning process. Atlassian has identified several critical gaps that ESP helps to close:

Illustration of a frustrated executive overwhelmed by too many reports and data.

Steps to Elevate Your Strategic Planning

Closing these gaps requires action. Atlassian recommends a few concrete steps to “upshift” your strategic planning process:

STOP doing non-mission-critical work: Eliminate or pause initiatives that aren’t directly contributing to your key strategic goals, so teams focus only on what truly matters.
START setting your strategy dynamically (not as static slides or spreadsheets): Treat your strategy as a living plan that you regularly update and communicate, rather than a one-time document.
START breaking down your strategy into focus areas: Split big-picture objectives into specific focus areas or themes, which makes the strategy more actionable and assigns clear ownership.
START mapping facets to each focus area (begin with goals, work, and talent): For each focus area, define its goals, the work required, and the people responsible. This ensures alignment between what you plan and who executes it.
CONTINUE “rotating the cube”: Regularly review all six facets together as your strategy unfolds, and adjust each facet as needed. This holistic monitoring helps catch misalignment early and keeps execution on track.

Wrapping Up

Adopting a holistic planning discipline like ESP can transform how your organization connects big-picture strategy to day-to-day execution. By aligning goals, work, people, and resources in a dynamic cycle, you ensure everyone is moving in the same direction and can adapt quickly as priorities shift. Atlassian’s ESP framework provides a blueprint for this kind of strategic agility and clarity, helping enterprises achieve better outcomes with greater confidence.

Interested in learning more? Contact Atlas Bench to book a complimentary consultation with our Certified Atlassian Experts.

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Atlas Bench is an Atlassian Platinum Solution Partner with deep Cloud Specialization, helping Data Center customers move beyond migration and fully transform on the Atlassian Cloud Platform. We deliver Atlassian’s System of Work end to end through four collections: Strategy, Teamwork, Service, and Software, connecting planning to execution, aligning teams around outcomes, modernizing service delivery, and accelerating software development.

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