Meet the Suns and Clouds chart
I first created the Suns and Clouds chart in the early 1990s. Since then, I’ve seen it reproduced in various forms in reports by my consulting competitors. They say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, but I still kick myself that I didn’t copyright it back then!
The reason it keeps getting copied is that it works. It manages to encapsulate in one chart conclusions on the relative importance of all the main issues in the plan. It shows, diagrammatically, whether the opportunities (the suns) outshine the risks (the clouds). Or vice versa, when the clouds overshadow the suns. In short, in one chart, it tells you whether your plan is backable. Or not.
The chart (see Figure 8.1) forces you to view each risk ...
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