A few months ago, the leader of the organization showed me a two-inch notebook. “Here’s the strategic plan we put together two years ago,” he said as he opened the book to show off their work. I read a few pages and congratulated them on the two-year old plan. The strategy was thoughtful and—although now dated a bit by the prolonged recession—wordsmithed to a fine tone.
“So, how much have you accomplished?” I asked.
My friend stammered a bit, “Accomplished? Well, we’re doing things piece by piece.”
Smiling a bit, I asked, “What pieces have you completed?”
He said,”Well, we really haven’t completed any of the pieces yet.” He emphasized how everyone was excited about the plan when they began, but they don’t really talk about it much anymore.
They spent a lot of time, money and effort to build a strategy, but never implemented it. They lost the energy of working together to formulate a strategy to leave it in a binder on a shelf.
A strategic vision without a strong execution plan creates confusion rather than clarity.1
As I asked around the client’s office about the strategy meeting, I discovered that some of the team was a frightened by the changes discussed in the strategy document so they didn’t want to see it come to fruition. Others remember being excited about the strategy, but couldn’t envision how they could help put it in place—and, now, they don’t remember much about the meeting. Management was too busy to start implementation immediately after the document was completed.
If you’ve got a similar story, don’t feel too bad. I hear the same story quite a bit. I’ve done it too—but I’m learning a bit about the strategic plan process. Perhaps the greatest secret to strategic planning: Allow time to put the project plan together at the end of the strategy session so all participants know what to say to their team members when they leave the meeting and have a list of tasks with deadlines. for the first phase.
The difference is phenomenal. Team members keep the aura of the strategy session alive while gaining confidence in the plan by accomplishing it as a team.
1 Maureen Broderick, The Art of Managing Professional Services, Wharton School Publishing