Here you go nonprofit leaders. Time to do that Strategic Plan again. Get it done. Cross it off the list. You'll meet with the board and some of your leaders. Then, you'll meet with your staff to share the brilliance of the strategic planning team. The staff will be asked to execute the brilliant strategies. And in the end, nothing happens. Get it done. Cross it off the list.
Has anybody heard this story before? Some of you I'm sure have. The story is based on where we think strategy comes from. That is, the brilliance of our leadership. Unfortunately, this story is a lot like the one where the stork brings us a baby. We know it's not true but it's a whole lot more comfortable to share.
Where does strategy come from? Well, I'm about to speak consulting blasphemy because it doesn't come from a strategic plan. Strategic plans make great projects and lousy results. Instead, let's just say strategy (forget the plan) comes from the heart of your organization. And the heart of your organization is the community you serve and the staff who execute that service.
So, let's look at a different strategic process that starts from your organization's heart. Instead of sitting with your leaders and developing strategy, sit with the people you serve and those in your organization who serve them. Ask what is needed to achieve your mission. You'll learn a lot. Then, once those heartfelt strategies are developed, the same people who created them will now execute them. They will own them. They are more likely to get it done.
There's a lot more to this. I and others on my team have given a lot of thought to a new process that focuses on the execution of strategies developed from the organization's heart.
Now as you look to the future, are you ready to embrace a new strategy development process that focuses on execution?