The How-Tos of Successful Planning

The purpose of an economic development organization, really the purpose of any organization, is to change lives. And you do that by planning.

Planning is indispensable for any organization that hopes to achieve anything approaching its goals. I love the quote by T. Boone Pickens: “A fool with a plan can beat a genius with no plan.”?

“Strategic planning” is deemed an almost requirement these days in economic development. But the truth is that all planning should be strategic in nature. Planning is a way and a means to get to a higher level of performance. And in the end, an organization will be judged on how well it performs in changing lives.

Sadly, too many economic developers privately view a strategic plan as a way to assuage stakeholders and board members with a report, the fatter the better. A strategic plan as a cover-your-ass exercise is not true planning if it results in a document that sits on a shelf being ignored.?

Still, it happens and there are consultants galore who specialize in turning out strategic planning reports laden with impressive graphics. Most truly do not care where it goes from there. They want to get paid and go on to the next community. (Admission: I used to think in such terms.)

In the end, all economic developers want the same thing: to make their community better, that is to make it more liveable and provide greater financial opportunities to the inhabitants. We all want a little bit of Lake Wobegon where, according to Garrison Keillor, "The women are strong, the men are good looking, and the children above average." Who wouldn’t want to live and work there?

Can you actually improve a community through planning? I actually believe that you can or I wouldn’t be doing what I am doing. although I’ll admit that owning a bar in Puerto Vallarta has its appeal.

The purpose here is to explain how better planning can and should work and how it can make a difference. And while your organization will never get to the promised land through planning, you just might get a glimpse El Dorado. Let me be your guide.

It’s Not the Plan, It’s the Planning, Stupid

There is an old Army saying— “plans are worthless but planning is everything.” The quote, or variations of it, has been attributed to World War II general and U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower, but he disclaimed credit by ascribing the words to an anonymous soldier.?

Eisenhower is also attributed to saying “Plans are useless, but planning is indispensable” and also, “Plans are worthless, but planning is essential.”

A thematically similar statement was crafted by Prussian Field Marshal Helmuth von Moltke the Elder in 1871. “No plan of operations extends with any certainty beyond the first encounter with the main enemy forces.” Over time Moltke’s statement evolved into a concise adage: “No plan survives first contact with the enemy.”

Eisenhower went on to say in a 1957 speech, “But if you haven’t been planning you can’t start to work, intelligently at least.”?

It's obvious that I like telling quotes, so here is another one of my favorites from Mike Tyson, “Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth.” If Tyson were to punch me, my only plan would be, "Get thee to a hospital."

Some critics of planning suggest that planning is a supreme waste of time and that it is a rigid, cumbersome process that gets in the way of good organizational operations. In their 2001 book Profit from the Core, authors Chris Zook and James Allen found that 90 percent of companies use typical strategic planning, but 88 percent of those companies fail to achieve profitable growth.

I would actually agree that typical planning does not make a marked difference for most organizations, which is precisely why they should do it in an untypical fashion. And that leads me to my next point.

Planning should be continuous to achieve continuous improvement.

Forget a calendar approach, forget the annual cycle or the three-year or five-year cycle. For planning to be effective, it must be continuous. Organizations that adopt this approach will be far more nimble. Continuous planning makes planning more efficient and agile, increasing an organization’s ability to adapt to a fast-changing world.

When I engage an economic development organization to help them with planning, I will publish a series of reports based on findings all the while getting their input into the process. That just gets the ball rolling. More importantly, I want that EDO, with or without me down the road providing guidance, to get into the habit of planning by continually doing it.?It becomes a part of the corporate culture of the organization.

The reason again: we live in a world of flux. Keep in mind that elements of your strategic plan will be obsolete the day it is published. Priorities shift: case in point, the Covid-19 pandemic, and how organizations responded accordingly. No doubt, climate change is now a consideration for many communities, something not considered previously.

Finally, continuous planning leads to continuous improvement. I believe in the Japanese management philosophy of Kaizen. It is based on the idea that small, ongoing positive changes can reap significant improvements over time. Some key principles:

• Determine what your customer wants and how you can improve their experience based on what they value.
• Organize teams with clear directives and goals and equip them with the right tools and systems they need to be successful.
• Use data to show how improvements are changing the organization so they are “tangible and visible.”

This management approach tackles the here and now. Waiting a year or two or three years via traditional strategic planning will mean lost opportunities to act and the ability to improve. My point is that planning should be a never-ending process. But it comes with a caveat: planning should never bog down an organization to the degree that inaction results. And that leads me to my next point.

Planning without action is an exercise in futility.

Another quote from the late and great T. Boone Pickens: “A plan without action isn't a plan, it's a speech.”

And, bear with me, another quote from Eisenhower: “Good planning without good working is nothing.”?

The simple truth is that action is required to bring about change. If an organization does not act or press for change, it is just spinning its wheels. Planning too much and in too many details can lead to procrastination. There comes a point when you have to stop refining and start doing. No organization should fall into this trap.

If economic developers hope to change lives and bring about improvements in their community, they must take action. Will there be pushback? Answer: There always is. People are resistant to change. Accept that. Deal with it.

I’ll end this section with yet another telling quote, this one by Andrew Jackson.? (Sorry for going overboard on the quotes but they’re too good at conveying foundational ideas.)

“Take time to deliberate; but when the time for action arrives, stop thinking and go in.”?

The “doers” must be involved in the planning.

Over the years, I have become a better consultant by listening to my clients. In the beginning, an economic development organization would hire me, and I would go into a community to interview stakeholders, and basically investigate the place, all the while turning to data sources. Then I write a report and say, in effect, “So long, it’s been good to know you. Good luck."

I don’t work that way anymore. I’ve learned that the doers, the clients, have to participate in the planning process as they are the ones who are charged with implementation. It’s not on me, it’s on them.

This means I need their involvement from start to end to come up with practical and tactical solutions that work. They will know far better than me whether something is doable because they live there. They know what can politically fly and what cannot.?If it's not doable. If it's not practical, then it's pie in the sky.

Planning should not be about theory but what can actually be achieved on the ground. The best way for that to happen is to employ those who are there. It will mean at times confronting them with information that they may not want to hear, but that is my job. Sugar coating serves no one.

Indeed, planning involves a good deal of courageous self-assessment, but I believe it’s a necessary step if change is to happen. It’s why foundational to all economic development planning is a SWOT analysis, documenting the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. And not just of the community but also of the EDO itself. Rest assured, I do not bite the hand that feeds me.

From that, comes what I call a “Salient Points” document that objectively shows warts and all, minus recommendations. (Those come later.) Throughout this entire planning process, starting with SWOT, I am engaging an EDO staff for their input through weekly or biweekly online meetings. Again, at the end of the day, this is on them, which means they have to be involved in the planning process.

For what it’s worth, I call our client-inclusionary approach the BBA Way. I know, that it does sound rather self-centered, but the point is that we want this to be a partnership effort. We're not about theory. We're about what works.

And after our role is completed, I want our clients to continue the never-ending work of planning and self-introspection. It's the only way to grow and improve, so make it part of your organization's psyche. Of course, I can always be there to help keep the train stays on the rails via a retainer basis. Sometimes you need an outside objective third party to provide such guidance.

Gosh, I could write a lot more about planning, but I suspect you have about had your fill. Call me if you need me.

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BBA helps communities build a better investment environment and companies find better communities to invest in. For more information, contact me, Dean Barber, [email protected]?Need a speaker??I can be there for you.

www.barberadvisors.com

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