OMG WTF YOUR MISSION/VISION/VALUES SHOULD NOT COST $250,000

Last year - last year! - at this time, I met someone from our region's Joint Office of Homeless Services, housed at Multnomah County (most of Portland, OR sits within MultCo).?

I shared that Pregame does Strategic Planning, and she said that they were eight months into creating their mission, vision, and values. EIGHT MONTHS. I told her that was ridiculous. I tried to save them. (I'm not even sure if this was the same project; let's hope MultCo is not paying these rates more than once.)

Now, I know that in Portland we are not supposed to "call out" others, even professionals. Consider us the Kendrick to their Drake.?

As a taxpayer and strategic planner, I call BS. Even though Pregame is a company in the private sector, our public service is infusing entrepreneurship into the public sector: that means efficiency, strategy, and budget consciousness.

This is why Pregame is disrupting the old school consulting model. They're not like us.

Only Pregame has five levels of Strategic Planning, which means organizations of any size can get expert guidance and a plan that is simple, actionable, and result-oriented to have measurable external impact. Even our highest, custom level nearly always quotes at a rate that would leave enough left over from the MultCo project to train leadership on how to make lofty ideals real with their teams.?

Want receipts? Here are a few our recent Strategic Planning projects that included fresh mission, vision, and values:

1. Washington County (single department): $6500 budget, finished in 3 weeks.
2. Portland Fire & Rescue: complete Strategic Plan in 5 months, under $100K, during two simultaneous emergencies (early Covid and wildfires)
3. City of Portland / Portland Engagement Project: extensive public engagement project with final deliverable of a step-by-step plan to reinvent the City's entire engagement framework = 11 months, under $150K

Whether you're a company, nonprofit, or government agency, here is how to avoid being overcharged and overscheduled for consulting services:

Comparison Shop. Who's out there, what do they charge, what's their track record?

Interview at Least 3 Different People/Firms. Yes, it takes more time, but you'll save time and money later. Check out my article in the Huffington Post.

Improve Your Procurement Process.?Of the dozen procurement websites we wade through to find RFPs, the aforementioned County has the most difficult system. It doesn't allow for a firm to truly showcase its work and style. It is not solution oriented. In general, the government procurement process is broken because the evaluation process is designed to see the trees, not the forest. More on that here.?

(In the spirit of not complaining without a solution, I've already outlined the issues to MultCo's procurement team and also advocate for these improvements at the State level.)

Prioritize Return on Investment. Never shop by price alone. It was the right instinct to unite MultCo under a common mission, vision, and values... but just imagine they had finished sooner. How much earlier could their team have been united; how much more could have been done to deliver services to the community?

We're always here to talk these things through with you before you leap. The goal isn't to throw shade on other firms; the goal is to get you exactly what you need to have the greatest impact.

Keep It 100,

Ciara