Why most Strategic Plans are little more than wish-lists
In fact I’ll go one step further and say that many Strategic Plans are DELIBERATE methods for NOT Progressing. In far too many organisations, the process of Strategic Planning is about compliance to a process of ‘having a plan’ and typically it has nothing to do with achievement of the outcomes listed in the Strategic Plan. They are at best a wishlist of hoped for outcomes. More often however they are used to hide a major lack of accountability and progress
Now I say this having reviewed hundreds of organisational Strategic Plans from multinational entities, Federal and State Government agencies, owner run businesses and not for profit organisations. I make the claim based on working with and training over three hundred different entities in Strategic Planning workshops, Board facilitation of strategy development, and delivering Strategy sessions to senior management groups.
And here is how it works for the ‘wish-list’ approach: The planning is mandated by an external entity (compliance requirement); the format is typically pro-forma fill in the blanks; the content is based mostly on a continuation of last year; and the information around available resources is scant. In this light, the entity will put together something that looks a lot like the last Strategic Plan, and fill it with high end statements about hopes for the future. This is the ‘we do it because we have to do it’ approach.
And lacking in a clear understanding of resources and capabilities, it will fail.
Other organisations are far more structured. In these organisations the purpose of a Strategic Plan is to distract or misdirect the workforce, management team or stakeholders from the real task at hand – to do whatever appeals to certain parts of the organisation regardless of potential. These Strategic Plans normally rely on a Strategic Planning team or Unit that asks division to respond to key planning criteria. But no single unit will understand what other units are doing, want to do or would like to do. No other unit will understand or be part of a shared outcome. And no single division will be held accountable to the Strategic Plan outcomes. This is the ‘more of the same, ask no questions’ approach.
And lacking in shared vision and stuck in silos, it will fail
The implications should not be downplayed – if you make a statement of intention in any form, a failure to act or initiate action towards that intention will nag away at you both consciously and unconscously. It will become a distraction; it will eat away at your focus; it will remind you at all sorts of unusual times. It’ll be the rust eating away at your foundations.
And yet the solution is surprisingly simple – DO! But to Do! well you need accountability to intentions and you need to monitor progress weekly, not quarterly. You need to be able to articulate your Off-Track and ON-Track signals of progress IN ADVANCE. And that requires you to think about where you are headed, why and what might emerge along the way.
Improved Monitoring and Accountability leads to one stunning outcome – you can Often Do Less, yet Achieve more
Are we there yet? Have people finally cottoned on to the idea that maybe, things aren’t going so well for the planet and our place in it? Storms, up; floods, up; fires, up; droughts, up; people being displaced by climate events, up. The signals are all around us. And yet, as a species we struggle…
Read More >One of the most challenges aspects for owners of businesses, and also for Boards charged with running businesses, is how to allow for the impact of a decision to unfold over time. Many listed company Boards will be delaying with a CEO on a limited tenure. The Board will have set expectations for performance and…
Read More >Local Governments in Australia face an emerging risk space that many seem unaware of. Brought on by rising costs, especially in business premises rentals, compliance needs and registration costs, research we’ve identified as part of work with a Local Government client is indicating a significant increase in businesses popping up in residential areas. What seems…
Read More >It’s been a rather hectic few months here at Looking Up Feeling Good in between getting a complete site rebuild, multiple interstate travel commitments and assisting an assortment of clients trying to deal with one rather interesting challenge – what to do when we’re supposed to be done and dusted with a pandemic, yet we…
Read More >Interesting emerging dynamic about to land on the shop fronts of Australian retailers that pose serious risks to their staff. And few retailers are ready With moderate level of vaccinations targets achieved, the NSW Government has decided to open up from a #Covid19 lockdown. It does so, relying on compliance enforcement to be undertaken by…
Read More >There’s a lot not to like about the latest spike in Victoria’s #Covid19 numbers. And the most culpable are mainstream media companies who created the social response The latest spike in #Covid19 infections can be directly attributed to Channel 7, Channel 9 and the ABC with lesser blame attributed to Channel 10 and SBS. In…
Read More >For those of you that follow me on other platforms, you’ll have seen, heard or read some of my thoughts on the lab grown proteins from firms like #ImpossibleFoods or #BeyondMeat. I’m a fan of those lab grown protein concepts arriving at that position whilst undertaking a Master of Science in 2004 in which…
Read More >Trying to understand something you’ve never experienced before can be a real challenge. In this post the #Covid19 #pandemic is explained using cars and traveling Your body is your car – it’s your mode of transport in this life. We want to treat it well and insure it and ideally we want to be able…
Read More >There’s a significant disconnect with a number of articles on ‘Hybrid Workplaces’ and it’s really disappointing to see SO MANY large consultants pump out articles that ignore reality. So this is a short take to offer an additional perspective. 1) Hybrid workplaces have existed for centuries, they are not new, though the sudden interest is…
Read More >Hi everyone – though a focus on particular those of you in Victoria, Australia who have an idea related to sports, active living or recreation that they might like to convert into a business. Sportstech & Active Living Pre-Accelerator program is being run by the Australian Sport Technologies Network (ASTN) and the Global Sports…
Read More >