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The dos and don'ts of strategic planning
by
Ryan Randall
https://www.newsweek.com/dos-donts-strategic-planning-1707057
So this author could immediately tell that the VP didn't include the rest of his team when creating the business plan that he was presenting, Once the VP ran the plan by the rest of the team, it got infinitely better.
I know lots of us here are solo founders without teams. I often wonder how much more a team could bring to the table especially when it comes to strategy and planning, since really neither are my strong suit. I'm more of a visionary. For me, it's been important to have mentors and communities (like IH) where I can get input from others. But even then, it's rare to find someone who wants to think really deeply about what you're working on. Anyone else out there struggling with this?
Growing up, I never wanted to be THE leader, I always wanted to be the strategist. I'd say that's my true strength and passion. I've worked in different positions from individual contributor to executive levels, from small team to large corporation, I've come to the conclusion that everything in life... it depends. Of course it's better prepared than not. But often time, we got ourselves into tactical situations that we must deal immediately due to urgency instead of focusing on strategy.
Since you are more of a visionary and less on strategy and planning. I'd recommend you read up on basic PMP knowledge and some MBA books. At least have the fundamentals on if you run into certain challenges, you know where to start for resources.
I've observed similar things as most IH here are visionary and explorers, but often time lacks the knowledge and experience from the business world. Perhaps that's something I'd like to help.
Stellar article!!!! One of the Do's that definitely reconciled with me is, "Starting your strategic planning process early", Nothing like staying ahead of the game and being on top of the ball.
Oh man, wish I could send this to my old boss.
He changed our strategic plan 4 times while I was there (for about 18 months). It drove everyone absolutely insane and definitely screwed with people's motivation/eagerness to work. It got to the point where we all felt a general lack of identity and autonomy. Needless to say, I'm glad I'm not there anymore.
StratPlan should not be taken lightly. He should spent the time to draw out 1-2, 3-5, 5-10 year plans. He should have taken the buy in from the teams. He should narrow down the plans to 3 points. He should not publish it until it is ready. He should not touch it for at least a year. Teams doesn't have to act on it, but it should have plan the resources accordingly to align to the strategy.
How can I create a post here? This popup appears every time I try
( you can't create posts yet.) what can I do?
The first "don't" is super important: "Don't change your strategic planning process every year." <- You can't predict the future - your progress isn't always going to look the way you expected it to. But you need to stick your strategy out long enough to really give it a try.
I would correct that into: the strategy plan should be sound for long term. You can add more every year to shift the direction of the strategy, but have to do it carefully. There are times that we need to shift fast, there are times we need to shift carefully...
Yeah but likewise, there are times when you need to - how do you know when it's time to pivot and go in a different direction?
This is a complex question. The easiest is that financial model no longer works. In that case, it's clear that if you don't pivot, you'll die. The hardest is to project future business opportunity when it is very uncertain. You can add some assumptions and milestone checks but it is not an easy answer. Most of executives actually says they bet on it because they need to make a decision with lack of information.
"Research from HLB Mann Judd found that even though 98% of surveyed businesses said they have opportunities for growth and ideas about how to achieve it, just 20% of business owners have a formal plan."
There are many business plan books that you can read up. By the time you finish a 1 to 10 to 30 page business plan, you'll have a fairly clear picture of your business.