| Hard Truths About Strategic Planning A sidebar to "Strategic Planning: Five Steps to a More Secure Future."
Strategic planning is not an activity for all seasons. There are times when it makes sense to plan and other times when you want to avoid planning like the plague. Organizations that are already strapped for resources can save valuable money, time, and effort by avoiding the trap of using the planning tool to resolve problems that are systemic. What Strategic Planning Is Not. Strategic planning is not the answer to many of the most common organizational problems, such as unanticipated deficits, failure to meet fundraising goals, executive management squabbles, or board disputes. These kinds of crises are generally best resolved with short-term planning tools, consensus building exercises, and/or conflict resolution activities. Nor is strategic planning a single four-hour or day-long retreat. While your plan may not require months of painstaking soul-searching and fact-finding, the planning process should entail more than a single meeting of the board to discuss goals for the coming year. It takes time for a group of individuals — any group of individuals — to gather information, consider the relevant facts, and develop a strategic direction that makes sense for the organization. Similarly, strategic planning is not a staff meeting convened for the purpose of setting goals. When done well, strategic plans articulate desired outcomes that often trigger new and/or improved core policies and practices. Staff input is critical to the process, but staff alone cannot and should not be expected to establish the strategic direction of the organization. When to Avoid Strategic Planning. Your organization may well encounter legitimate circumstances that warrant the canceling — or at least the postponement — of a strategic planning exercise. These include, but are not limited to, times of trauma. A long-range plan will not alleviate the pain associated with the firing of an executive, the loss of an important volunteer leader, or the deepening of a financial crisis. Do not engage in strategic planning when there is no chance that the plan will be implemented. Successful planning requires the commitment of stakeholders not only to the process, but to the implementation, evaluation, and adjustment of the plan. Do not engage in strategic planning when the prospects for developing a sound plan are slight. A strong personality on a board or executive management team who makes it clear that he/she wants to use the planning process to install an agenda featuring a favorite but unneeded program, project, or facility will almost always doom the process to failure. In such cases, the organization is better served by postponing the strategic planning exercise until a resolution of the issue in dispute has been achieved. Finally, and most importantly, do not engage in strategic planning if your key stakeholders are unwilling to commit time, money, and effort to the venture. Without such an investment, planning is a useless activity. |