Strategic Planning Alternative
Should your organization create a strategic plan? Maybe. Should your organization plan for the future? Absolutely.
What’s the difference? The first is about producing a product. Think binders and PowerPoint presentations. The second is about a process.
My personal bias is that the first is best used in two situations. When you have a brand new organization that needs to chart a course for moving forward is the first. The second is when an organization finds itself in major trouble and needs to completely reinvent itself because business as usual is no longer an option. Imagine being in the newspaper business these days. Both of these situations call for a clear direction on which to make your major investments.
If the two conditions described above are not present, then I think a better use of strategic planning time is having a process that helps us answer the following questions:
1. Does our overall direction still seem like the best option available to us?
2. Are we on track with our current goals and objectives?
3. What major barriers do we need to deal with?
4. What interesting opportunities should we put some energy into pursuing?
A process that answers these kinds of questions doesn’t need to take months to complete. Rather it is an ongoing activity built into our management system.
If you’re thinking about doing a strategic plan and you are intrigued by the idea of doing something different. Drop me a note, and we can talk through the possibilities.
