The Art of Strategic Planning

We are all familiar with the bias that strategic plans are a waste of time.  Many people hold the belief that too much time and effort are invested in developing strategic plans because, after they are done, they are put on a shelf and collect dust.  The reason that this belief is so widely held is because it’s often true.  The plan becomes a static document that quickly loses its relevance as conditions change.  It only gets dusted off when the next 5 year cycle begins again or gets dumped in the trash.  

So, how can we make our strategic plan a dynamic tool that is continually modified in response to changing conditions?  How can we keep it relevant, timely, and meaningful?

Over the course of my career, I’ve facilitated the development of dozens of strategic plans for small, non-profit organizations (e.g. Grand Traverse Regional Land Conservancy -GTRLC, TART, Homeless Solutions, Grass River Natural Area, local YMCAs etc.) to Fortune 100 corporations (e.g. J&J, AT&T, IBM, Merck, etc.).  Those experiences have given me an opportunity to find ways to turning the process from a dreaded chore to an energizing art.  In this post, I will describe the three phases of the process as I have come to understand it.

Phase I: Strategic Context 

The first principle of strategic planning is that it must be done with a deep understanding of the context in which it will be implemented.  Understanding the context is essential preparation for creating a strategic direction and plan.  Here are the steps:

1. Conduct a PEST Analysis (Political, Economic, Social and Technological Conditions). A PEST analysis scans the external environment to understand how the marketplace is changing and how those conditions could impact your organization.  What is the political environment in the areas you are operating?  How strong is the economy where you and your people are living, learning and working?  What demographic changes could impact implementation?  How might technological innovations disrupt your plan and/or provide opportunities for you to improve efficiency and effectiveness? 
2. Conduct a SWOT Analysis (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats). A SWOT analysis surveys the internal functioning of the organization.  What strengths can it leverage?  What weaknesses must it overcome or manage?  What opportunities or possibilities should it pursue given the marketplace conditions?  What threats could put the organization at risk or make it vulnerable?
3. Conduct a Stakeholder Analysis. A Stakeholder Analysis ensures that you are informing, involving, investing and inspiring all the people who not only will be impacted by your plan, but also whose participation, contribution and leadership will be necessary for successful implementation.  How will staff be impacted?  What are the implications for the Board?  How will your donors and funding sources respond?  What might the plan mean for your volunteers?  When and how will your clients or customers be informed?  What impacts will the strategy have on the community where you live?  Here is a chart to help you think through who needs to be involved and at what level.

Depending on the size and scope of the organization, it may also be helpful to conduct a survey of the community to get their perspectives on the strengths they treasure and the problems they see as priorities. 

Phase II:  Strategic Direction:  The second principle is to ensure that all stakeholders are connected to your vision, mission, values and goals.  Plans only succeed if people believe in the possibilities for change and the in deep purpose of the organization.  Building connection and commitment requires an organization to mobilize stakeholders behind a larger purpose.  People need to know why change is necessary, how the organization intends to relate to them and what’s most important.  In order to align resources behind the strategy, stakeholders need to feel like their involvement and investment will provide a meaningful experience.  Here are the steps.

1. Craft a Vision Statement. A vision should be an aspirational and inspirational statement that captures why the organization exists.  For example, Google’s vision statement is “to provide access to the world’s information in one click.”  To me, that’s a vision worth working toward.  In my community of Elk Rapids, Michigan, we invited the 13 Ways consulting group to help us with our strategic direction.  They engaged every segment of the community and provided an impartial, objective assessment of where we were and where we needed to be if we wanted to realize our potential.  One of the most useful deliverables from their work was a one-page story of who we wanted to become as a community.  Having a compelling story (vision) inspired the community to mobilize behind key priorities.  The story is still playing out. 
2. Define Values. I like to say that values are both anchors and guiding lights.  They anchor decision making and provide a beaming beacon for behaviors.  Values help us become more conscious and intentional about how we relate to all members of the community.  Do all members feel welcome?  Do people from all backgrounds feel included in how things work?  Do they feel like they belong.  In Elk Rapids, the 13 Ways team helped us focus on four key values:  Collaboration, Communication, Community Investment, and Inclusivity.  We are still trying to build a stronger connection to those values.
3. Create a Mission Statement. A mission statement summarizes succinctly what an organization does for whom.  It should be a believable and powerful summary of aims.  For example, the GTRLC mission statement is “to protect significant natural, scenic and farm lands and to advance stewardship now and for future generations.”  In the Traverse City region, this mission statement resonates with a broad spectrum of citizens.  At a time when climate change threatens our existence, GTRLC has used this mission statement to mobilize the community to support sustainable actions.
4. Develop Goals.  Goals are 3-5 year directional statements.  In my experience, they should encompass seven areas:  People, Programs, Process, Policy, Technology, Culture, and Finance.  By addressing all seven of these goals, organizations can ensure that they aren’t missing an area that could keep them from accomplishing their mission. It’s easy to see that, if financial goals are not addressed, then the organization won’t be able to continue operations and realize their mission.  For example, Microsoft invested $3 billion in Open AI so that they could develop ChatGPT.  In non-profit organizations, making accurate directional statements for people, process, technology and culture is critical to successful implementation.  For example, TART’S people goal is “to attract, develop and retain staff, volunteers, users, donors, board members, and governmental partners to support our plans.”  Goals lay out the roadmap.  As they say, “if you don’t know where you are going, you may end up somewhere else.”

Strategic Plan:  The third principle is to establish a community of collaboration in which every person seeks ways to help each other succeed.  The plan operationalizes the goals by defining SMART (specific, measurable, achievable, ratable, and time-bound) objectives.  Whereas Boards should be heavily involved in setting the strategic direction, the staff should be primarily responsible for translating the direction into a plan and implementing it.  Boards need to address the “What’s” and the staff needs to be empowered to figure out the “How’s.”  Making this distinction helps to preclude Boards from becoming too intrusive in day-to-day operations.  In my experience, the best laid plans are undermined when Boards micro-manage.  Here are steps for developing a strategic plan.

• Define Objectives. Objectives are what staff commits to deliver by the end of one year.  Each goal may have 3-5 objectives.  For example, a “Culture” objective might be “to define the norms for each of our values and conduct a culture audit by the end of the year.”  I picked this objective as an example because organizations that don’t attend to their respective cultures do not usually succeed.  As the saying goes, “culture eats strategy for lunch.”
• Outline Tasks. Tasks are the monthly milestones that enable organizations to regularly check on progress.  Tasks include planning, developing, delivering, evaluating and modifying.  Using that progression helps organizations think through the whole chain of events required for successful accomplishment of an objective. 
• Define Steps. Steps are the weekly actions that need to take place in order to accomplish a task.  This is the point at which planning can turn into “crazy-making.”  The most important question to ask in any planning process is, “what level of detail do I need to be able to see myself accomplish the tasks and objectives?”  Some people need more detail than others, but each staff member should at least ask the question and then take the process to whatever level of specificity is required. 
• Estimate Resource Requirements. Finally, this is where the rubber meets the road.  Given all the objectives to which an organization commits, how much time and money will be necessary to make it happen without burning people out.  What are the points of interdependency?  At this point in the process, an organization needs to assess the level of commitment, capability, capacity and culture that will be required to be successful.  Some organizations may lack sufficient commitment to take on the challenges written in the plan.  Others may have committed and capable people but simply lack the capacity to pull off what has been promised.  Still others may not have a culture that will support the ambitions and aspirations written in the plan.  Being willing to take a hard look at resource requirements can be a determining factor in success. 

Now, here’s the rub.  The Art of Strategic Planning needs to be an exercise in honesty and creativity – not one of futility or compulsivity.  That’s why it’s an art.  Permit me a bit of a riff here.

Honesty means having a realistic view about assumptions and resources.  To me, two of the biggest omissions organizations make in their planning process are to 1) avoid taking the time to state the assumptions on which the plan is based, and 2) avoid rigorously challenging those assumptions.  For example, an assumption may be that the stock market will continually go up and donors will continue to give generously from their overflowing bank accounts.  Organizations also need to be honest about the resources required to deliver on their plan.   Many organizations under-estimate what it will take to achieve an objective. 

Being Creative means staying ahead of the curve and generating innovative solutions to changing conditions. Creative organizations are exceptionally good at anticipating trends, identifying disruptors, finding niches, establishing differentiators, and creating compelling brands.  Things change.  Stuff happens.  Continuous creativity is required to survive and grow.

A sense of Futility happens when organizations go through the motions of planning without any real belief or commitment to making change happen and/or without any real connection to the  purpose.  If planning is perceived as a futile exercise, an organization is better off not making people suffer through the process.  In those cases, planning simply results in more evidence that failure was inevitable – an outcome that can turn into a reinforcing cycle within a downward spiral.  Not a good thing. 

Compulsivity means making the process a burden instead of a joy.  When organizations take the level of detail way beyond the point of functionality, it takes the wind out of sails. Plans should be functional, not compulsive.  Remember the rule of thumb:  can I see myself doing this?

So, that’s a brief overview of the Art of Strategic Planning.  In my experience, planning can engage people in productive dialogue, encourage collaboration and energize organizations to achieve more than they may have thought possible.  Here’s hoping you may find some of these tips helpful in creating the organizations and outcomes to which you aspire.  May it be so. 

Also published on Medium.

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