Strategic Planning - How to Start

One statement I often hear regarding Strategic Planning is “It is difficult to get started”. 

A blank sheet of paper can be intimidating – so don’t start with one.  Write down these three phrases:

1.        Defend the Core

2.        Grow the Base

3.        Create the New

Every good strategic plan addresses these three points.  The emphasis on each one may vary depending upon the current situation of the business.  These three phrases are “pre-strategies” which allow organizations to better organize their strategic planning efforts. 

To avoid a blank sheet of paper, begin by defining:

• What is “the core” of the business?

• What are “the base” products/services and customers/markets?

• What are examples of totally “new” products/services?

But wait, you haven’t said anything about our mission and vision. Correct, it is not time to work on those statements, but we will eventually.

Often companies start their strategic planning efforts with a brainstorming workshop to define an aspirational mission and vision and then pursue market assessments and the development of strategies and initiatives that reflect those statements.  I take a different approach.

Organizations have a current mission and vision statement.  I like to encourage leadership to retain the current mission and vision initially and let the strategic planning exploration and analysis lead to a refined or new mission and vision if required.  This process yields and informed mission and vision that resonates deeply with leadership and staff.  

Once a basic understanding has been documented for the Core, Base and New, the next step is explore what it means as an organization to Defend the Core, Grow the Base and Create the New.

This is done through internal and external environmental scans using both market assessments and Strength, Weakness, Opportunity, Threat (SWOT) analysis.  SWOT assessments should be done for both functional as well as product/service. These analyses are great opportunities to expand the participation across the organization in the Strategic Planning process.  Ninety (90) minute workshops can be designed to engage leadership and staff to quickly create candid SWOT analyses.   The SWOTs are thoughtfully summarized up through tiers until there is one SWOT that encompasses the entire company.  The company-level SWOT is critical and the strategic planning team should wrestle with every word that is chosen to be on that single page.

Ideas for strategic initiatives begin to take shape as teams discuss how to exploit substantial opportunities or address significant weaknesses. 

And now is the time in the process to consider the current mission and vision statement and see how it aligns with emerging strategic initiatives. 

• Are they bold enough? 

• Should the tone of this iteration of the strategic plan be evolutionary or revolutionary? 

• How large of a risk appetite does the organization and board have during the strategic plan’s time horizon. 

It used to be that strategic plans spanned 5 years.  With the advent of technology rapidly reshaping business, many strategic plans are now 3-4 year terms with planned mid-way assessments for any adjustments. 

So now we have started with pre-strategies; defined our core, base and new; completed SWOT and other analyses, developed a preliminary list of strategic initiatives and adjusted our mission and vision if needed. 

At this point in the process, I like to do an individual exercise requiring members of the strategic planning team to describe place themselves years in the future and explain how they achieved their strategic goal.  The story they create is told in the past-tense, as if the organization has already accomplished the new intent.  They are required to describe the major obstacles and how they were removed on the path to success.  Every individual is encouraged to tell the story from their own perspective and draw a simple (or complex) graphic that capture the story.  It is through this process that many times, iconic images will be developed that become the essential messaging.

Now we need to bring it all together in a coherent story.  And this “story” will be no more than 20 pages that capture your new strategic plan.  If it can’t be written in less than 20 pages, it is too complex.  Whether the tone is evolutionary or revolutionary, the story needs to be compelling.  The environmental assessment sets the stage, the SWOT analyses provides the storylines and the strategic initiatives describe the action.  A well written strategic plan pulls the reader forward on an inspiring journey.  An epic story cannot be written by committee, chose well who is to be the main writer of your 20 pages.

Depending upon the size and scope of your organization it can take between 6-26 weeks to complete a strategic plan that includes 3-6 facilitated sessions to advance the process.

If you are looking to start a strategic planning effort or just want to discuss different aspects of this article, please reach out to me at john@johnmatson.consulting or message me on Linked-In.