McKinsey’s 7 Degrees of Freedom: Expanding the Strategic Growth Horizon

When leaders talk about growth, most default to the obvious: increase revenue from core products, expand into new geographies, or acquire a competitor. But the real art of strategic planning comes from uncovering growth opportunities others don’t see.

Enter the McKinsey 7 Degrees of Freedom—a framework that expands your field of vision. It challenges leadership teams to explore the full spectrum of growth options, not just the familiar ones.

What is the McKinsey 7 Degrees of Freedom?

This framework identifies seven distinct “levers” through which a company can pursue growth. Some are internal and incremental, others are transformational or market-shifting.

Here are the seven degrees:

Maximizing Existing Customers: Focusing on increasing revenue and profitability from existing customers through upsells, cross-sells, and loyalty programs.
Attracting New Customers: Expanding the customer base by targeting new segments or geographic areas.
Innovation of Products and Services: Developing new products, services, or features that meet evolving customer needs or address unmet needs.
Innovation of the Value-Delivery System: Improving the way products or services are delivered to customers, such as through new channels or technologies.
Geographical Expansion: Entering new geographic markets to expand reach and capture untapped demand.
Improving Industry Structure: Shifting the competitive landscape to create new opportunities for growth.
Opening up New Competitive Arenas: Identifying and pursuing new competitive spaces that are not currently served by incumbents.

It’s a way of systematically forcing the executive team to step outside their current constraints.

Why It Matters

Uncovers Hidden Growth Options: Most orgs pursue 2 or 3 paths. This expands the horizon to 7.
Supports Innovation Thinking: Moves teams from linear thinking to systemic exploration.
Reveals Strategic Trade-offs: Not all growth is created equal—this framework helps weigh risk vs. return.

When to Use McKinsey 7 Degrees of Freedom

✅ Use it when:

You’re building or refreshing your corporate growth strategy
You’ve hit a growth ceiling in your core business
You need to prepare for a strategic offsite or investor meeting

🚫 Don’t use it when:

You need rapid cost control rather than growth strategy
The business lacks capacity or readiness for execution

How to Use the Framework

Here’s a practical guide for leading a strategy session using this tool:

Step 1: Facilitate an Ideation Workshop

Get cross-functional leaders in a room. Introduce the 7 degrees. Challenge them to brainstorm 5–10 growth ideas for each degree. Use sticky notes or digital whiteboards.

Step 2: Score and Prioritize

For each idea, evaluate:

Strategic fit (1–5)
Potential impact (Low/Medium/High)
Feasibility within 12–36 months

Step 3: Portfolio the Ideas

Place ideas into three buckets:

Core: Low risk, incremental growth
Adjacent: Medium risk, new customers or markets
Transformational: High risk, high return bets

Step 4: Choose Focus Areas

Prioritize 3–5 high-potential plays. Assign owners. Define next steps—market validation, pilot, business case, etc.