Your horizon should drive your strategic planning

One of the first things that I look at when designing a strategic conversation is the horizon in which our decisions will have to produce results.

Sometimes (remember 2008…), the horizon is as short as 3 months.

Sometimes (remember the times before 2008…), the horizon is as long as 5 years.

WHAT DETERMINES YOUR STRATEGIC HORIZON

How do you tell what your strategic horizon should be? I look at 2 factors

• How substantial and dependable are the resources we’ll have? The more of a war chest we have to work with, the less we need to worry about short-term needs, and the more we can focus on long-term goals. If we don’t have a war chest, then how confident are we that we’ll be profitable into the future.
• How healthy is the business model? Are we generating a good profit? If not, that’s a sign that we may not be delivering what the market values, or something internally is not working as needed. And it suggests that we’ll need to use resources to fix things before we can use them for building things.

WHAT DIFFERENT STRATEGIC HORIZONS LOOK LIKE

Once I’ve done that assessment, I know whether we need a short-term, medium-term, or long-term discussion.

• Short-term = 0-6 month horizon: tactical initiatives that can capitalize on existing assets, or address existing problems, with the goal of generating revenue or cutting costs. For example, cross-selling to existing customers, or consolidating 2 internal departments whose work has changed.
• Medium-term = 6-18 month horizon: evolutionary initiatives that capitalize on adjacent opportunities and needs – things that are new but close to what we’re already doing. For example, selling an existing product into a new (similar) market, or upgrading an antiquated order-management system.
• Long-term = 18-36 month horizon: transformational initiatives driven by a strong internal or external driver but with major work to be done. For example, launching a new product that needs technical development, or expanding the strategic role of a department (we’re seeing this a lot in IT departments that are being asked to drive digital transformation).

For most small businesses, most of the time, the strategic horizon is 1-2 years. But the horizon can vary from quarter to quarter. So, as you prepare to talk with your leadership team, take into account the resources you have and the health of your business as you outline the agenda for your strategy meeting.