Recognize the problem
As a strategic planning professional, I'm driven by these questions:
How can I be a better strategic planner?
What's "state of the art" and "cutting edge" in strategic planning; What are significant strategic planning trends?
What are the problems with strategic planning and how can they be addressed to improve planning use, process and outcomes?
I've initiated discussions to try to get at these issues in three LinkedIn groups: Strategic Planning Xchange, Association for Strategic Planning and Strategic Planning Society. The discussions have been robust, offering great insight on planning issues and trends.
This activity has led me to think about all of the barriers to effective strategic planning and implementation. In the theoretical world, planning works. In the real world, planning often fails or under-delivers. In my own strategic planning experience, problems I've had to deal with include timidity to drive change, pre-wired outcomes, lack of environmental awareness, lack of organizational input and, most often, lack of implementation.
With the view that the first step in solving a problem is to recognize it, I have started my list of the big problems that strategic planning as a core business discipline encounters in the real world:
Getting organizations to plan in the first place.
Not developing a dynamic, compelling, "stretch yet achievable" shared future vision of future success.
Not informing the planning process with input from key stakeholders.
Not informing the planning process with the fruits of an environmental scan.
Avoiding having the planning process result in a pre-determined outcome determined by the leader.
Not using an objective third party to facilitate the planning process.
Not getting wide buy-in to the plan.
Not seeking "transformational" and "disruptive" strategies (avoiding "incrementalism" and "staying pat masquerading as strategy formulation").
Not using planning as the way to make the hard choices about what the organization will not do.
Having an over-involved, slow planning process.
Confusing strategies with tactics (changing the organization versus making it more efficient).
Planning not being an on-going, repetitive process.
Lack of effective implementation and follow-though.
Timid leadership that is reluctant to drive organizational change as the road to success.
Not having the flexibility and agility to deal with unanticipated environmental and competitive change.
Not accounting for risk factors in strategy formulation.
No gaming varied strategic scenarios and not having contingencies for these scenarios.
What would you add to the list?
Having recognized these problems, now I'm obligated to examine these issues in more depth to see how best to tackle them for better planning results. Stay tuned!
