Strategic Planning

Putting It In the Center

During a recent strategic planning engagement a retreat participant asked what would happen if we placed the organization’s purpose statement (Start With Why) at the center of the cause’s plan.  Radiating out from the purpose statement were eight strategic goals that had been identified.  It suddenly brought the plan to life for many in the room.  The plan was not bound like a book with a table of contents.  Instead, each strategic initiative was directly linked to what the organization believes.  A subtle change in context and presentation suddenly brought exponentially more meaning to the enterprise’s vision for the future.

Edge of the World Trail

I lead horse pack trips for a summer camp when I was in college.  We ran with an outfitter who would take the pack string of mules ahead and then I would guide the campers on horseback into the base camp and then beyond.  The most nervous moment was ten minutes from the trailhead.  Before everyone had really gotten settled on their horses and adjustments were still being made we would round a corner and encounter a 1/2 miles section of trail that was exposed against a hillside with a 500-foot drop-off to the river below.  The trail was sufficiently wide and in the course of normal travel was not an unreasonable obstacle.  The challenge was that once you started with sixteen head of horses, there was no turning around.  If a mule string happened to be coming the other direction and they did not stop at the right location, you were sure to have a nearly impassable predicament.  There was some serious faith that once you launched your party on the trail that other users would have your best interest in mind.  It reminds me of my work with enterprises that are launching strategic plans.  At some point you have to make the turn and launch on the trail that feels like you are riding on the edge of the world.  Have faith that if you have planned well and your purpose is compelling, then the journey is worth making the first step.

Your vision is only actionable if you say it out loud. If you keep it to yourself, it will remain a figment of your imagination.

– Simon Sinek


 

Failure is an Option

Blue Avocado published part one of a two part piece on the failings and alternatives to strategic planning.  In my role as a strategic planning consultant, I have become more aware of assessing and avoiding potential engagements that are going to end poorly and perpetuate the idea that strategic planning is done for ritual and not for revitalization.  Jan Masaoka keenly outlines some of the pitfalls in part one.

Over the weekend I also received a link to the One Page Business Plan Company.  Interesting approach to providing a methodology and platform for implementing goals and tracking the plan’s progress.  Like all approaches, it is tool that can maximize your strategic return if your enterprise takes the time to develop compelling content.

Forward or Backwards

When reviewing history, do you do so with the benefit of hindsight or do you appreciate the realities that many decisions were made-it-up as you go.  Listening to NPR’s Fresh Air program today, Terry Gross was speaking to Eric Foner who spoke about the realities of history when taken in a real-time approach.  If you know the ending of the movie it is easy to see how the plot unfolds.  When you research a past event through the lens of that moment, it becomes a different narrative.  Appreciate that reviewing a strategic plan it is easy to see what activities resonated and others that were derailed.  Creating a plan requires a real-time perspective.  You are creating history but cannot judge your achievements until you have decided and taken action. 

Focus Group

Does your cause spend a significant amount of time thinking about how it is perceived by the community?  Are there decisions that you need to make that have no data or commentary to provide guidance?

Consider running a focus group.  Invite in one or a series of small groups that are representative of a key constituency you want to hear from.  Hire a facilitator or find a person of neutral standing to run a couple 60 minute session.  Send an invitation, provide the respondents with a brief synopsis of the intended outcome.  In advance, select the key questions or areas of concentration, most likely no more than three.  Provide the attendees with a space that feels conducive to a conversation and allow the facilitator to engage the participants in a conversation about the selected topics.  Provide an additional feedback mechanism (electronic or hard copy) for anyone who may have additional observations to share once the group’s session concludes.  Of course, thank the attendees and keep them in the loop.  How did their input help the organization advance its purpose and mission?  Anyone who is willing to participate has a motivation that needs to be reasonably honored.

I predict that you will gain tremendous insight and it will fill-in some of the uncharted gaps that exist on your strategic map.

Words of Change
It’s a lot easier for an organization to adopt new words than it is to actually change anything.
 When you look at your current strategic or long range plan and compare it to your last version, did your cause create real change or simple wordsmith concepts from the past?  It is exciting to talk about striking out into the wilderness and journey towards a significant landmark.  It is another thing to sleep alone in the middle of a forest and listen to strange sounds outside your tent.  If you are not experiencing moments that jolt you from the day-to-day routine, you may not be on the journey you wrote about.  Real change takes more than words.

Just Visiting or Going for the Summit?

For some people, reaching Basecamp at Everest is the goal.  They plan, set an itinerary, and pack accordingly.  It requires a specific type of trip and guide.  For another individual, the goal is to summit Everest.  Such an expedition requires a different set of equipment, planning, and support.  You rarely hear somebody talk about their journey to Camp II as the goal of their Everest expedition.  If you invest in the dream of climbing the peak then you are committed to travel as far up the mountain as your conditioning and the weather will allow. 

Strategic planning goals are the same.  It is scary to announce to the world that you are attempting to summit Everest or any mountain of note.  There is a simple black or white result to announce to your constituents at some point- we made it, we did not make it.  But there is something equally noble to present the dream and make you best attempt.  An organization that believes it can only reach Camp II and states such is most likely to regulate its efforts and resources over the duration of the strategic plan to reach Camp II.  A cause that aims for the summit may just catch a great weather window and find itself on the South Summit, looking at the true summit and knowing they have progressed much further than they ever imagined and Camp II is invisible in the clouds below.  Neither enterprise may actually reach the summit but one journey is remarkable and the other a bit pedestrian in the scale of the mountain.

Strategic goals should be remarkable.  They should inspire others and attract those who believe what you believe.  Reaching for extraordinary is remarkable in itself.

“I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it. The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear.“

 

Express Train

Woman sitting next to me on the Hudson River line last night found herself watching her train stop race by as we headed directly into the heart of New York City. As the conductor walked by to check tickets he told her that our train had changed from a local to an express at the last station. She was going to have to ride into the city and then head outbound to get to her destination.

It was a reminder that one of the reasons we to hold public unveilings of our strategic plans is to share with our supports and advocates where the organization has decided to become an express or local. A car full of passengers thinking the train is going to do one thing only to watch it do another can create a lot of distractions. Update your fan base often, keep them aware of your progress and intended destination. Perhaps we can aim to run on-time like the Swiss railroads and standout as remarkable.

Help Wanted

I am posting a help wanted sign.  Not specifically for a person but a system. In order to further my consulting enterprise’s purpose of empowering causes that inspire, I am seeking a better platform for selecting strategic priorities.  I have been fortunate enough to assemble a team of powerful planning methods but I am still browsing from the buffet of taking inspired talk and capturing the ideas into strategic initiatives.

My help wanted sign reads: Seeking innovative system to consistently transform generative and inspired conversations into strategic initiatives that can form the backbone of a strategic plan.  Must be reliable, energetic, willing to travel, network with other systems, and memorable.

Who should I interview?