SOAR Analysis: Strengths, Opportunities, Aspirations, Results

By Brian Tr · Updated Oct 10, 2026

SOAR analysis is a strategic planning framework that organizes a team's thinking into four parts: Strengths, Opportunities, Aspirations, and Results. It grows out of Appreciative Inquiry, so it starts from what already works and the future you want, rather than from weaknesses and threats. Teams use it as a positive, action-focused alternative to SWOT.

This guide covers where SOAR comes from, what each quadrant asks, how it compares with SWOT, TOWS and PESTEL, a step-by-step method, a copyable template, and the cases where SWOT is the safer pick.

Key Facts

• What it is: a four-part strategic planning framework: Strengths, Opportunities, Aspirations, Results.
• Roots: Appreciative Inquiry, the strengths-based change approach associated with David Cooperrider.
• Origin: introduced by Jacqueline Stavros, David Cooperrider and D. Kelley in a 2003 AI Practitioner article, which presents SOAR as an alternative to SWOT.
• Book-length treatment: The Thin Book of SOAR: Building Strengths-Based Strategy, by Jacqueline Stavros and Gina Hinrichs.
• Core difference from SWOT: SOAR swaps Weaknesses and Threats for Aspirations and Results, so it adds a vision and measures of success.
• Best for: visioning, strategic planning retreats, team and department planning, and organizations that need engagement more than risk screening.
• Main caveat: the empirical evidence for SOAR is thin, and it can underweight risk if you use it alone.

What is SOAR analysis?

SOAR stands for Strengths, Opportunities, Aspirations, Results. According to the Champlain College Appreciative Inquiry Commons, the 2003 article by Stavros, Cooperrider and Kelley proposed it as an appreciative approach to strategic planning, one that is both results-oriented and co-constructive. The same summary says the article reviews the history of strategic planning, explains Appreciative Inquiry, and ends with a case example of SOAR in a real organization.

The Decision Lab's reference guide traces the framework to Cooperrider's Appreciative Inquiry work from the 1980s and Stavros's 1998 dissertation, with the 2003 article formally introducing SOAR. The later book, The Thin Book of SOAR, is described by its listing as a strategic planning process based on discovering and multiplying what the organization does well, applying Appreciative Inquiry to strategic thinking and dialogue.

Notice what the name does. SWOT asks "what's wrong, and what could hurt us?" in half its boxes. SOAR asks "what are we good at, what do we want, and how will we know we got there?" Same job, different starting point. And the starting point changes the conversation in the room.

The four quadrants

Each quadrant is a conversation, not a list you fill alone. The guiding questions below are typical prompts. Adapt the wording to your team.

Strengths

What do we do well, and what are we proud of? List capabilities, assets, relationships, achievements, and anything customers tell you they value. Ask for evidence: a won deal, a retention number, a process that never breaks. A strength nobody can point to is a hope, not a strength.

Opportunities

What possibilities could we pursue? This is the outward-facing quadrant. Look at unmet customer needs, partnerships, markets, technologies, and underused assets. The Decision Lab summarizes the question simply: what possibilities could the organization pursue? Frame external pressure as something to act on. A regulation change becomes "a chance to be the first to offer compliant onboarding."

Aspirations

What do we want to become? Describe the preferred future in concrete terms: what we want to be known for, who we want to serve, what a great year looks like. Aspirations are the part SWOT doesn't have. They give the strengths and opportunities a direction, so the team isn't just cataloguing.

Results

What outcomes would tell us we've achieved the aspirations? Turn each aspiration into measures: revenue from a new segment, customer satisfaction, time to deliver, employee retention. Add a target, an owner, and a review date. A SOAR session that ends before this quadrant is only a pleasant workshop.

SOAR vs SWOT vs TOWS vs PESTEL

These four tools answer different questions. They aren't rivals so much as different lenses on the same plan.

According to The Decision Lab, SWOT is considered the more defensive approach, while SOAR is more positive and action-oriented. For the full contrast between the older pair, see SWOT vs TOWS and PESTEL vs SWOT.

How to run a SOAR analysis, step by step

Step 1: Define the scope and invite the right people

Pick one thing to plan: the company, a department, a product line, or a single initiative. Then invite a cross-section, not just senior leaders. SOAR is built as a conversation, so it works best when people from different levels and functions are in the room. A frontline account manager often knows the real strengths better than the executive team.

Step 2: Start with Strengths

Give everyone a few minutes of silent writing first, then share. Ask for stories, not adjectives. "We answer support tickets within an hour, and customers mention it in reviews" beats "great service."

Step 3: Move to Opportunities

Ask where the strengths could be applied or where the environment is opening. Group the ideas into themes. Then cut ruthlessly: five opportunities you'll chase beat fifteen you'll mention.

Step 4: Describe the Aspirations

Ask each person to describe the organization three years from now in a few sentences. Compare the answers. Where they overlap, you have shared aspirations. Where they differ, you have the conversation you needed to have. Write two or three aspiration statements the whole group can say aloud.

Step 5: Define the Results

For each aspiration, set one to three measures, a target, an owner, and a review date. Keep it small enough to track on one page.

Step 6: Turn it into a plan

Convert the highest-value opportunities into projects with milestones, and fold them into your strategic planning process. Then schedule a review, quarterly for most teams, so the Results quadrant gets used.

Step 7: Add a risk check

SOAR doesn't prompt you to look for danger. Before you commit, ask a short list: what could stop us, what are we not good at, and who could undercut us? You can run a quick SWOT on the top two initiatives to cover this. Skipping the step is the most common way SOAR plans go wrong.

SOAR template

Copy this into a doc or spreadsheet. Fill each row from the workshop, then keep the Results table as your tracker.

SOAR examples by business function

The examples below are hypothetical illustrations of how teams might fill the quadrants.

• Sales. A hypothetical sales team lists its strengths as strong referrals and a fast demo-to-proposal cycle. Opportunities include a nearby industry vertical and a partner channel. The aspiration is to be the first choice for mid-sized logistics firms. Results: a set number of qualified opportunities from the vertical and a target win rate.
• Marketing. A hypothetical marketing team notes a loyal newsletter audience and a respected customer webinar series. The opportunity is to turn the webinars into a content library. The aspiration is to become the go-to educator in its category. Results: organic traffic share, newsletter growth, and sales conversations that start from content.
• Customer success. A hypothetical CS team points to high renewal rates in one segment as a strength. Opportunity: expand accounts through a new onboarding package. Aspiration: make every customer a reference. Results: renewal rate, expansion revenue, and reference count.
• Human resources. A hypothetical HR group lists a strong internal mobility culture. The opportunity is a manager development program. The aspiration is to be the best employer in the region for early-career talent. Results: internal fill rate, engagement scores, and offer acceptance rate.
• Operations. A hypothetical operations team has a skilled, stable workforce. The opportunity is to automate a repetitive handoff. The aspiration is same-day fulfillment for core products. Results: cycle time and error rate.
• Product. A hypothetical product team's strength is a loved core feature. The opportunity is a related workflow customers keep asking for. The aspiration is to own that workflow end to end. Results: adoption, retention, and support tickets per user.

When SWOT is the better choice

SOAR isn't always the right tool. Reach for SWOT when:

• Risk is the main question. If you're deciding whether to enter a regulated market, sign a major supplier, or survive a downturn, you need to name weaknesses and threats on the page. SOAR reframes them rather than listing them, and that can hide a blind spot.
• You need a quick, shared baseline. SWOT's four boxes are familiar and fast. A new leadership team can use it in an hour.
• Your audience expects it. Investors, lenders, and boards often ask for weaknesses and threats explicitly.
• The team is already too rosy. If your culture avoids bad news, an all-positive framework can reinforce the habit.

Practical middle path: use SOAR to set direction and engage people, then use SWOT or a TOWS matrix on the chosen initiatives to stress-test them. And be honest about the evidence. The Decision Lab notes that a review of 27 SOAR articles by Zarestky and Cole (2017) found mostly positive opinions but significant gaps in empirical support, and that critics question whether SOAR differs enough from SWOT to prove its usefulness.

SOAR dos and don'ts

Do

• Invite a cross-section of the organization. Engagement is half the value.
• Ask for evidence in Strengths. Stories and numbers beat adjectives.
• Write aspirations in concrete language. "Known for the fastest onboarding in our category" is something you can measure.
• Finish the Results quadrant in the same session. Measures, targets, owners, dates.
• Add a short risk check before you commit.
• Review on a schedule. Quarterly is common.

Don't

• Don't treat it as a reason to ignore problems. Weak spots don't vanish because the template doesn't have a box for them.
• Don't let Strengths turn into a brag list. If a customer wouldn't agree, it's not a strength.
• Don't skip Results. Without them, SOAR is a vision exercise with no accountability.
• Don't run it with only senior leaders. You'll get the same answers a SWOT would have.
• Don't expect proof it beats SWOT. Use it because it fits your situation, not because it's been shown superior.

Learn more

• SWOT analysis: the diagnostic framework SOAR is positioned against.
• TOWS matrix: turn SWOT factors into strategy options.
• SWOT vs TOWS: how the two relate.
• PESTEL analysis: a structured scan of the external environment.
• PESTEL vs SWOT: when to use each.
• Strategic planning process: where SOAR fits in a full planning cycle.