OPPORTUNITY FRAMING FOR COMPLEX PROJECTS
Find the right problem first.
Doing the project right matters.
Doing the right project matters more.
Learn to bring people together, explore options
and agree on a clear way forward before committing time and money.
Iwona Wilson. Facilitator, Trainer, Author
Next live program starts November 18 · Free training November 12–13
45+ years
Combined founder experience in oil, gas and mining projects
300+
Workshops facilitated, on projects worth over $10B combined
2,000+
People trained in the decision gate process
3 continents
Capital projects in energy and mining
BEFORE THE PROJECT GATHERS MOMENTUM
A clear plan starts with the right questions.
A project can have a budget, a schedule and a busy team and still be heading in the wrong direction. Do any of these sound familiar?
The solution has already been chosen.
The team is asked to deliver it before anyone has explored what else could work.
Agreement disappears when choices get difficult.
The team seemed aligned until it had to choose between cost, timing and performance.
Work starts before the purpose is clear.
People are producing plans and reports without a shared understanding of the problem.
Everyone sees success differently.
Ask five people what the project needs to achieve, and you get five different answers.
Assumptions are treated as facts.
Important decisions depend on things nobody has checked or said out loud.
Framing helps you surface these differences early, while there is still time to change direction.
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WHAT OPPORTUNITY FRAMING DOES
Give your team a shared starting point.
Opportunity framing is a structured conversation about what you are trying to achieve, which options deserve attention and what needs to happen next. It brings different perspectives into the discussion before one solution becomes the plan.
Clear purpose
Agree on the problem or opportunity and what success means.
Better options
Explore possible approaches and test the assumptions behind them.
Way forward
Identify the decisions, information and people needed for the next step.
Use it at the start of a project or when an existing project needs a fresh look.
LEARN THE METHOD
Build the skills to shape better projects
Learn how to frame a project with others, or strengthen the decisions made throughout its life.
LIVE ONLINE PROGRAM
Opportunity Framing Practitioner
Lead the conversations that give a project direction.
Bring a real project and work through it with Iwona and a small group. Apply the PATH method to clarify its purpose, explore options and develop a practical roadmap.
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Nine live sessions with guided practice
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A workbook and framing tools to use on your project
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Feedback as you apply what you learn
November 18, 2026–February 3, 2027, Wednesdays, 8–10 a.m. Central Time
Enrollment closes November 14.
SELF-PACED COURSE
Mastering the Decision Gate Process
Make every gate a meaningful decision.
Learn how to set up and run decision gates that help leaders decide whether a project is ready for its next commitment of time and money.
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Eight modules with short, practical lessons
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A workbook and Excel toolkit
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A maturity assessment to review your current process
Start anytime.
Learn at your own pace.
FROM THE PEOPLE HAVE TAKEN PART
What changed in their work
Hear how participants have applied what they learned to their projects and decisions.
"Instead of saying, 'We need to talk to these people,' I started mapping the decisions: Decision one, decision two, decision three... It helped me develop a real decision-making mindset."
Gillian Smart
Project Controls Manager, Mining, Tx
“The Decision Quality Wheel completely changed one of our meeting agendas. Instead of rushing into a decision, we discussed the big questions first, and ultimately decided not to proceed. It was the right decision.”
Thalía Krüger
Project Manager, Renewables, TX
"I've already brought Opportunity Framing into my client work. The management team can now see that if they jump straight into execution, they're going to miss important conversations."
Matthew Flynn
Process Leader, Family Office, HK
FOR TEAMS AND ORGANIZATIONS
Bring us in for the conversations that matter
When a decision is complex or people see the situation differently, a well-designed workshop helps the team work through it together.
Frame a project
Clarify the opportunity, explore options and agree on the work needed for the next decision.
Align your team
Work through competing priorities, define a shared direction and agree on practical next steps.
Build capability
Give your people a shared approach to framing through training built around your projects.
MEET IWONA WILSON
I started by checking the work. Then I learned to question the starting point.
I began my career as a quality engineer. My job was to check that the work met the requirements.
Later, working for an energy company in Australia, I saw how much was decided before delivery began: the problem we chose to solve, the options we considered and the assumptions we carried forward.
That changed how I approached projects. I learned to bring people together earlier, ask better questions and help teams agree on what they were really trying to achieve.
Today, through Wilson Biz Consulting, I facilitate those conversations and teach others how to lead them. I am an IAF Certified Professional Facilitator and co-author of Where Projects Are Won or Lost.
FREE TWO - DAYS TRAINING
"Before You Plan the Project
Frame the Opportunity".
Bring a project you are working on. Learn how to question the brief, clarify what matters and identify the next steps. November 12–13 · 8 a.m. Central Time · Live online
Day 1 · Are we solving the roght problem?
Day 2 · What needs to happen before we commit
LATEST ARTICLES
Notes from the front end
