Patrick Lencioni tells us in his book, The Advantage, that companies need to be both smart and healthy if they are to succeed in today’s highly charged and competitive environment.  We’ve tackled the healthy side of this position in previous blogs. Today, let’s address one of the elements of being smart…strategic thinking.

Whether your company grows or dies, whether your legacy is securely grounded or not, can arguably be linked to whether or not your employees’ behaviors are aligned with your vision and mission.  That’s right! When decisions are made independent of the big picture confusion results. Don Schminke, of The Schminke Research Alliance, said it well when he said: “When we believe it is okay to make decisions based on operational urgencies versus sustaining competitive advantage, we are unconsciously deciding to decay.”  Decay. Not growth but deterioration. This is but one of the problems of failing to challenge the status quo or thinking that simply because things worked in the past they’ll continue to work in the future. The chances are enormous they will not!

The Importance of a Strategic Planning Framework

I write about the difference between efficiency and effectiveness and define the latter as doing the right things.  What are the right things though if not those things that are important within the context of a larger vision? For decision-making to be effective it must be done within the context of your vision and a strategic awareness relative to how you might accomplish that vision.  Schminke goes on to tell us that without the coherence that comes from a strategic awareness, there can be no foundation for effective decision-making.

Planning then, specifically strategic planning or strategic mapping, is one of the foundational elements of being a smart organization. It is a process that is best done with no distractions and an awareness of the environment your organization is competing in.  As reasonable as that sounds on its face, why is it that most family businesses don’t have one? Why is it that for those who do have a plan, they fail to operationalize it between 67%-97% of the time?

The reasons are as varied as there are business owners.  The enormity of starting the process is paralyzing, suspicions about the need for it, apprehension about bringing in someone from the outside without industry specific expertise (how could they possibly help?), and even fear of what will be discovered.  All of these are real and yet none should be allowed to stall the process or prevent it from getting started.

How to Make a Strategic Plan - Getting Started

Here are a few things you might do to make the process more approachable and get you started in the right direction.

1. Assess your previous planning sessions to identify:

• What worked?

• What didn’t work?

• Where could the team have executed better?

2. Evaluate the Strategic Planning process you’ve used in the past.

• Will the same process set the appropriate context for 2019?

• Has the process been strategic, or has it been more of an ops planning session?

• Did the retreat outcomes shift your market positioning and growth, or were they just near-term actions?

3. Schedule a planning retreat before the end of the year.

If you need help or just want to talk it through, we’d be happy to explore your objectives. Contact us here.