Why Work With a Strategic Planner?
For a more complete answer, we need to understand what has happened in the past with strategic planning. |
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During the last century and in particular during the dawn of the global information age in the late 1970s and early 1980s, strategic planning involved looking three to five years into the future, doing a SWOT analysis, making a plan, assigning responsibilities, and then executing the plan.
In simple terms, it was a process of identifying two points. One called here and the other called there. The strategic plan was a reflection of drawing a line between the two locations, and following the line into the future.
But during the digital mania of the 1990s, this model of strategic planning did not work. Often, there changed while the printer was pumping out the document!
This was the result of an accelerated convergence of constant technological changes, the rise of globalization in the competitive landscape, and the promise and the threat of the World Wide Web. Therefore, many established companies created radical new strategic planning processes, and strategic plans. The outcomes of these new methods were varied at best, because many had their eyes on the stock market rather than the customer.
Following the dot-com crash and the belt-tightening that came with a global recession, many companies have now begun to reexamine their strategic planning and their strategic plans.
First, most want the planning process to result in a greater degree of understanding and ownership of the end product.
Second, they want a strategic plan that is a working document with enough flexibility to handle unexpected priorities or situations that arise out of an ever changing global landscape.
Third, they want a process built into the strategic plan, which includes routine strategic reviews, utilizing accurate and timely metrics to monitor progress and to correct emerging misalignments.
Given these changes, lets now reexamine the short answer of time, experience, and perspective.
Time is valuable.
First, most executives are working at capacity. Every day, their calendars are filled with back to back meetings and project deadlines. Along with a desk covered with reports, meeting notes, and financial accounts to monitor, many are also swamped with daily e-mails, voice mails, and urgent phone calls.The result is that being over scheduled and overloaded has become a normal way of life.
While delegation helps, many executives currently find their work life so full that there is little time for reflection, and strategic thinking. Reactive problem solving consumes their time and attention. Strategic planning is taking a back burner to increased market pressures to improve tactical performance.
Working with a strategic planner like Geery Howe, M.A. allows executives to know that the process will keep moving forward in the midst of their full calendar.
Working with a strategic planner means that an executives time is not wasted.
Working with a strategic planner creates an effective planning process instead of a time absorbing exercise in endless meetings where flip chart paper is posted on every wall and precious hours are spent in useless brainstorming sessions.
Experience matters.
Many executives over the course of their work life are involved in the creation of five to six strategic plans.
An experienced strategic planner like Geery works each year on five to ten different strategic plans. At any one time, he may be involved in three different plans and planning processes.
With thirty years of experience, he understands the normal stages and usual problems that emerge. He can avoid certain problems in the planning and prevent certain problems in the execution of the plan.
Perspective counts.
While historical and organizational memory might fade as the baby Boomers retire, an experienced strategic planner like Geery Howe, M.A., who has worked with a diversity of clients, can not bring lessons learned and awareness of critical choices that people need to make in order to be successful.
There are many different ways to create a strategic plan, and there are many different kinds of strategic plans. Each process and each plan must meet the needs of those involved and the needs of the organization.
Yet, for many companies, they have been using the same planning process and the same strategic plan format for decades. The result of which is limited strategic flexibility, focus, empowerment, or ownership.
When strategic plans are built and they result in mediocre execution, anemic results, and limited innovation or quality customer service, it is time to reevaluate the planning process and the strategic plan. The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again, and expecting different results.
Often the problem is in the planning process and the plan. Poor design can yield continuos problems
Given Geery's experience of working with multiple plans and processes over an extended time period, he can offer valuable perspective which can save the organization time and money.
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