February 17, 2011

BE DiFFERENT on the Threes - Strategic Planning

THREES - Strategic Planning
BE DiFFERENT on the Threes
Dumb Rules: Barriers to Distinction
Fit in or Stand Out; You Choose

Your planning process must fit the realities organizations are confronted with these days. Volatility. Randomness. Chaos. Unpredictability. Relentless Change. Yet in spite of these dynamics, the traditional “Strategic Planning 101” model is still advocated by Educators and is used by most organizations. SWOTS, in-depth Issues Analysis, Predictability Modelling and Mathematical Assessment of Alternatives pervade the planning process. The objective seems to be to seek the last bit of perfection in the plan and then assume that it will be effectively executed as written.

BIG mistake. Nothing EVER turns out the way you planned. NOTHING. Nothing is EVER perfect (coveting the 100% solution is unproductive in any case).

The new planning model must BE FLEXIBLE. Must accommodate unexpected CHANGE. Must achieve RESULTS. Must generate ENTHUSIASM. Must scare the pants off the HERD.

Here are Three things you can do to to make your planning process more relevant:
1. Get your plan “just about right”. It will never be perfect so why bother? Get it directionally right. Don’t tie yourself down to an outcome based on “all things remaining equal” because they’re not.
2. EXECUTE flawlessly. Take your imperfect plan and BE Brilliant at executing it. Spend 80% of your time figuring out how to implement it and 20% determining it’s essence. It is a failure of leadership that plans fall short on execution.
3. LEARN and adjust on the run. Learn what’s working and not working through execution. And adjust your plan based on this learning. Build in a feedback lop so you get real time information on how well plan expectations are being achieved.

Get comfortable with the fact that your future is uncertain. Get comfortable with imprecision. With a bit of vagueness. With the fact that you CAN iterate yourself to success if you pay attention to your results and learn from them.

EXECUTION-DRIVEN Planning is what is needed to distinguish yourself from the competitive Herd. Take the step.

Cheers,
Roy


Join me on Twitter
Connect with me on LinkedIn

Strategy Creation | Permalink
Posted 2.17.11 at 06:00 am by Roy Osing | Read Comments (0) | Leave a Comment