Strategic AND Execution Planning – A Waste of Time?

October seems to be the start of the “strategic planning season.” Planning is a good thing, however, planning for the sake of planning, since it is what you are supposed to do this time of year, tends to be a waste of your time. 

There are numerous quality planning processes, tools, software, and consultants at your disposal, and many of them are overbuilt, focused on the plan, and proving their (consultant, plan) value. The plan, a well-done plan, then collects dust on the shelf, while you do what you have always done. And growth is again static and/or you just work harder and longer hours to maintain revenue. Yet you fulfilled your obligation to do a plan, thus satisfying yourself or someone else that it has done. A waste of time? 

My challenge to you is to keep it simple, impactful (i.e. positively changing your growth curve(s)), AND something you will implement, while finding personal margin. Start with clarity and honesty as to why you are taking the time to plan in the first place – What is the “why” for your clients, for your business and for you? Then follow a simple 7-step journey: 

Strategy 

1. Clarity of Perspective – your foundational beliefs and values (e.g. mission, vision, core values, guiding principles, etc.). 

2. Clarity and Honesty of Your Current Reality – as a business and as a business owner (e.g. patterns and trends, culture, key learnings the past 6 to 12 months, what take forward, what leave behind, what’s going well, not going well, confused, needs to change, and role and responsibility clarity, etc.). 

3. Clarity of Your Desired State – as a business and as a business owner. (What are your key measures and what do you want them to look and feel like?) 

4. Clarity of the Gap Between Today’s Reality and Your Desired State – Gap Analysis. (This step is usually missed, yet critical for solving/addressing the right issues and opportunities.) 

5. Strategic Plan for Gap Closure. (Clarity of your growth flywheel, core strategies/hypotheses for growth, and one big idea.) 

Execution 

6. 90-Day Tactical Action Plan for Results and Individual Rhythm Weeks. (Work gets done in 90-day cycles and through individual rhythm weeks. Leading change and empowering people to thrive in clarity and internal motivation.) 

7. Cadence of Mutual Accountability and Results. (Check-in cadence for clarity of purpose, encouragement, mastery development, confidence, and energy of momentum with validated learnings and the autonomy to persevere or pivot.) 

Thoughtful strategic planning is important, yet only if there is a clear path for execution and course correction. Things change, it is easier to course correct a plan that is in motion than one on the shelf collecting dust. 

If you have questions, would like more detail, and or would like to discuss a consulting gig to guide you through the process, send me a message.