Strategic Planning: What It Is and Why You Want It

Your organization does important work.  No, your organization does vital work.  Think of the people you and your organization serve.  Now, imagine how those people would be negatively affected if your organization ceased to exist tomorrow.  Of course, this would never happen, right?  Well, you hope not, but hoping is not a strategy, nor will it take you to places you need to go in order to serve those people who are relying on you. 

I’ll make a bold statement.  Success is not necessarily indicative of health.  So, what if you’re turning a profit or if you’re servicing more people this quarter than last?  The real question is not, “What is happening?”, it’s “Why is it happening?”  The answer to that question and so many other vital questions comes when you walk through a disciplined, strategic planning process.  In this article, I’ll give you an overview of the thirteen core principles of strategic planning and tell you exactly why they are important to you.  In the coming months, I’ll unpack each of the thirteen principles in detail for you.

A brief overview of the 13 core principles of strategic planning:

1.     Perspective before planning.  Success, in and of itself, is not necessarily indicative of health.  Even if your organization is effective, you must know why.  Would you rather have the view from the valley or the mountain-top?  You must find the truth before it finds you.  To do so, you can use a variety of tools to face current and future truths.

2.     Seek Truth.  There are two types of truth you must seek - current and emerging.  You must face crucial and sometimes difficult conversations.  It’s not easy, but you can do it.  And, you always keep in mind that you’re attacking principles, not people.

3.     The team develops the plan.  Collective wisdom is better wisdom.  Everyone contributes.  In the strategic planning process, you need owners, not advocates.

4.     Facilitated vs. Prescribed.  I bring the process, you bring the content.  If you hire a strategic planning consultant who wants to tell you how to run your organization, fire them immediately.  You and your team already have the answers.  You just need someone with the expertise to draw those answers out for you.

5.     Seek breakthrough.  Horizontal vs. vertical.  Vertical alignment is when the decisions and strategy are set from the top and everyone below is expected to fall in line.   However, horizontal alignment is when strategies are set collectively by multiple representatives with the whole organization in mind.  Vertical alignment sucks energy from an organization, while horizontal creates synergy among departments and staff members.

6.     Planning.  You must develop an architecture of success; a unified master plan based on the organizational distinctives and goals.

7.     Action.  Unified implementation of the core plan through action initiative teams working to accomplish milestones and goals is the way to get it done.

8.     Structure.  Form follows function.  Structure follows the substance of the plan.  You’ll have to develop a structure for executing the unified plan through appropriate and timely decision-making.

9.     Management.  If you plan your work and work your plan, your plan will work. Effective management means managing the whole.  Strategic, operational and financial.

10.  Control.  You manage the plan through strategic control panels which are an integral part of the plan management process.

11.  Learning.  You will continuously improve through the elimination of everything which does not add value and stoking the fires of those pieces that do.  No more sideways energy.

12.  Renewal.  Change is inevitable.  Your management system must help renew and adapt to change constantly. 

13.  New organizational discipline.  Perspective, Plan, Execute, Renew.  It’s a process and you can trust this process.

So, why is this important to you and your organization?  Simple. Because those people we talked about above are waiting for you to bring the clarity, unity, focus, energy to the organization you lead, and they believe in.  You deserve this and so do they.

*Jason Fitch is a certified leadership and strategic planning coach with Lead Self Lead Others, in Tulsa, Oklahoma.  He is also a certified “StratOp” facilitator with the Paterson Center in Fort Collins, Colorado.

If You Can Answer 5 Questions, This Will Be Your Most Productive Year Yet!

In our last post, we talked about the idea of changing your mindset in order to imagine new possibilities.  If you didn’t get to read it, take a look.  Now, let’s take that a step further.  Let’s say you have yourself in a place where you’re operating primarily in a growth mindset.  Mindsets are great, but there have been many great thoughts that have languished in the minds of individuals who have never gone to the next step.  That next step is a growth plan.  You wouldn’t build a house without a set of plans that were meticulously followed.  Why try and build your life any other way?  

If you want to get someplace significant and see your dreams become reality in 2018, an effective and simple step is to write down and keep up with your growth plan.  The importance of writing it down and keeping up with it cannot be overstated.  Ideas in your head give you a general direction, but they will not get you to where you imagine you want to be.  In fact, over time, being guided by an idea will create frustration and you will begin to despise the very idea that began as an inspiring vision for your life. It’s not the idea’s fault.  It’s yours.  But, you can fix the problem.  You can start by answering these five questions.

1. How are things now?  This question speaks to the need for assessment.  You’re not just closing your eyes and picking at random or spinning a wheel to choose areas of growth.  Set aside some time and really think this through.  Chances are, you know some key areas in which you need to grow.  
2. How do I want things to be?  This is the question of vision.  While it's essential to assess the current state, the next step is declaring what you want the new reality to be.  Only you can paint a picture of what you want your future to look like.  But pictures don't paint themselves.  They require your effort.
3. What will things look like this time next year?  Vision is a picture of the future and it's essential.  But vision is not specific.  This is the point where you have to set specific goals.  Oh, and make sure they are SMART goals (specific, measurable, achievable, results-focused, time-bound).  Most of us set silly goals because we don't put them through the SMART filter.
4. What do I have to do right now?  You can’t do everything you want to do, but you can do anything you want to do.  This question speaks to the need to narrow your focus and choose small, concrete steps.  If you did a good job answering the questions above, chances are you have a good list of areas in which you want to see growth.  Well, the next question narrows that down to specifics.  If you want to reach a goal by the end of the year, what step do you need to take by the end of the month?
5. Who will help me get there? This is probably the biggest missing piece from most growth plans.  If you’re the kind of motivated and growth-minded individual who would actually go through the steps to create a personal growth plan, you probably believe you can execute and complete it on your own.  You are wrong.  No man (or woman) is an island. You need to invite others into the process with you and give them permission to keep you accountable.  People who care about you will help you this way if you just ask.

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Remember, the answers to all these questions need to be written down and you’ve got to keep up with it.  Keep these answers close to you.  See them often.  Schedule times to assess your progress.  If you have a good plan and you’re intentional about following that plan, you absolutely will see the growth you desire.  You can do it!