Article: Ten Cardinal Sins of Strategic Planning

If your strategic planning process doesnt address the rapid change and complexity in the world around you, youre in serious trouble.

Business leaders who grapple with how to do effective strategic planning offer one painful insight: We can't plan like we did 10 years ago. Planning practices that once enabled a company to grow may cripple it today. Ironically, while many managers reengineer and redesign their key processes, such as new product development, few consider changing the high-leverage process of strategic planning.

I offer two litmus tests of good strategic planning: 1) your company achieves its growth and profitability objectives in the marketplace; and 2) all of your people understand and execute the strategy daily.

Many managers are dissatisfied with the implementation of their strategy, and wonder why events don't unfold as planned. And many commit strategic "sins" of either commission or omission. Here are 10 common ones and what to do about them.

Five Sins of Commission

1. Pack the agenda so tightly it screams . You may have many points to cover when dealing with strategic issues, but recognize the limits to what you can accomplish in a short time. A full agenda leaves participants frustrated. Way out. Before meeting, develop an agenda that you think you can achieve, and then cut 30 percent. Address those items in a separate meeting, or delegate them. Develop criteria to prioritize the five items that need to be addressed. This forces discussion about priorities - what's in and what's out.

2. Focus on problem-solving versus futuring. Many planning sessions degenerate into listing problems, prioritizing them, then assigning action plans to address them. Often there are many problems, and people leave feeling enervated because of the work ahead of them. Way out. Start by articulating the future you want, not the problems you have. To get a grounding in the present, project what the future will be like if nothing changes. Then, consider the difference between two articulated futures: the most desirable future, and the trajectory of the present if nothing is done to improve current conditions. Then, plan accordingly. To achieve quality outcomes, pull people into the future rather than push them out of the past.

3. Focus only on company and industry opportunities and threats. Focusing a strategic agenda only on your industry can cause big trouble. You may neglect big picture events, like the Internet. Way out. Expand your discussion to include the greater demographic, technological, and social trends that are not directly related to your business. If Fred Smith had thought only in terms of traditional distribution industry practices, FedEx wouldn't exist.

4. Round up the usual suspects to participate. Many managers invite only three to five senior people to participate in developing plans. This creates the potential for dangerous carryover assumptions about markets, products, and other high-leverage issues. Often key pieces required for strategic planning are left out because necessary people or information aren't available. Way out. Inviting representatives from different areas to the planning retreats can be productive with up to 35 people. You might invite someone who heads up customer service, if service is viewed as a key to success. When you invite others, they can hear the issues, debate the issues, co-plan with others, and disseminate plans with a passion.

5. Only plan for one emerging future. In this global economy it is difficult to predict anything with certainty. Way out. Develop several scenarios that could happen in your industry and the extended demographic and social environments. Then, develop action items to ensure that your strategic planning addresses several scenarios.

Sins of Omission

1. Don't think about information before it's needed. Often great care is taken to get the senior team off-site, only to find in mid-session that the information managers need is not available - and, it will take days to put it together. Result: the planning retreat is a bust. Way out. Before the off-site session, determine information that will be key for understanding and decision making. Arrange for creative briefings using audiotapes, discussion forums, or presentation on the Intranet. You may not catch everything, but your chances of an "information disruption" are much less.

2. Don't devote time to disseminating strategy. One lament of CEOs is that while the company strategy seems crystal clear to senior management, it does not match what's happening daily. Way out. Set your goals, and let these serve as inputs to the next level. This level then negotiates goals, comes to agreement, and then provides their goals as input to a third level. This process helps people see how strategy translates to day-to-day work. Develop a portfolio of diverse goals and a system of accountability.