Strategic planning can help improve how an organization makes decisions to achieve their goals and achieve sustainable success. The questions posed during the planning process—about impact goals, resources, change management, or the potential risks of the plan—are not the sort you answer only once.
Preeta Nayak & Lindsey Waldron, The Bridgespan Group
Takeaways of Note:
4 common strategic planning pitfalls:
1. Everything but the kitchen sink… a logical list of things that would help the organization but lacks overarching impact goals, tradeoffs, and prioritization of activities.
2. The impossible dream… an inspirational strategic plan but does not account for the time, money, and skills required to accomplish action items.
3. The manifesto… a bold plan is created but lacks support from others besides the plan’s creator and is disconnected from implementation.
4. The work plan… outlines clear activities & and milestones but does not consider risk or build in the flexibility to adapt to a changing environment.