Annual strategic planning is typically viewed as a daunting task, one over which many business leaders procrastinate. Those that plunge ahead often do so with reluctance, dread, and disappointment over a process that generates few new ideas.

Whether you’re intimidated by the possibility of a time-consuming process, or fed up with lackluster outcomes, it’s time to reconsider the old preconceptions of strategic planning.

Better objectives, not bigger strategy
 
Strategic planning is simply a management tool designed to help an organization do a better job, period. Too many companies get caught up in financial details or in rehashing last year’s plans. Additionally, some feel the process is all about churning out bold strategy, and that expectations include presentations of big, innovative ideas.

Instead, think of the annual process as a form of competitive positioning. It should simply be about preparing your organization to respond effectively to an ever-changing business environment. In that respect, your number-one objective should be to groom the minds of your management team to be flexible and responsive to shifting circumstances. A lot of things change between the time any plan is created and the time it’s implemented, therefore, it’s important that your team be ready to exercise their best judgments.

You can start by making certain that your key decision-makers understand the current and potential capabilities and limitations of your strategic plan. They should be fully aware of your company’s strategy, direction, and vision, and the assumptions and rationale behind them all. Because resources, opportunities, and threats are not fixed, your goal is to prime your team so they can confidently make constant adjustments and advantageous choices. In doing so, you are encouraging strategic thinking and laying the groundwork for creative idea generation.

Promoting real-time strategy

While redesigning your strategic planning means conditioning your team, it also means creating an environment ripe for making excellent real-time strategic decisions. To ensure that your organization fully supports sound intuition, reasoning skills, and inventiveness, try encouraging experimentation.

Persuade your team to brainstorm all the possible actions that could move your organization toward various levels of success. Then allow strategic experiments to be conducted; experiments that are consistent with your company’s goals, but that test different theories or paths to future opportunities. Such exercises will not only train your decision-makers to adapt quickly, but also puts them in the habit of generating creative responses and ideas. 

Another approach is to democratize the process by handing over initiatives to your management team or small teams of employees. Oftentimes, you are already keenly aware of “big picture” issues—how to manage changing technology, what to do about new regulations, etc. Don’t be afraid to assign such tasks to teams consisting both of new hires who have the ability to think outside the box and candid, tell-it-like-it-is old-timers. By inviting a broad range of people to the strategy table, you will gain new perspectives that lead to creative opportunities for your organization’s future.

Redesigned and reenergized for success

Strategic planning helps to create the future you want for your organization. It’s important to realize that even the process itself is a creative one. Real-time strategic planning is often disrupted by new insights that can alter decisions made yesterday. But by preparing minds, encouraging experimentation, and mining for ideas, you can set the stage for new product development, successful expansion, and finding tomorrow’s new markets.