Is Strategic Planning a Worthwhile Investment for a Business or Organization?
By: C. B. " Bix " Rathburn, Ph. D. President
Rathburn Planning & Consulting rathburnplanning @ gmail. com
This is the first in a series of articles exploring the value and components of a comprehensive strategic planning process for a business or organization. The goal of these articles is to equip organizations with the motivation and tools to invest quality time in planning and assessment exercises leading to enhanced focus and organizational success.
This is the first in a series of articles for Momentum to assist organizations and businesses in gaining a better understanding of strategic planning and its potentially powerful impact on the daily operation and ultimate success of any business or organization. Let’ s start with a comprehensive definition of strategic planning.
Strategic planning is collection of organizational management processes and disciplines that guide an organization or business in:
• Establishing and clarifying mission and purpose
• Clarifying organizational values and culture
• Establishing vision and charting a future path
• Establishing organizational goals
• Setting organizational priorities
• Focusing the energies and resources of an organization
• Strengthening operations and decision making processes
• Ensuring that employees and other stakeholders are working toward agreed goals
• Establishing agreement and commitment around intended outcomes / results
• Measuring success
• Constantly assessing and adjusting direction in response to a changing environment
Strategic planning can be as simple as clarifying mission and goals of a business or organization or as detailed as a daily disciplined activity. Sophisticated tools and strategies are not always critical to success in strategic planning. However organizational commitment to the process by the entire team, from the CEO to the line worker, is necessary for the process to have its desired impact. For any strategic planning process to be effective at a minimum it must
• Clarify the purpose of the business and organization
• Articulate the direction the organization is going
• Document the actions and resources needed for advancement and
• Define expected outcomes. Variations in the strategic planning processes beyond these core components are usually tailored to the complexities, needs and environment within which the organization operates. In summary strategic planning processes, to be effective, must be tailored to meet the needs of each organization’ s needs, setting and circumstances.
There are a number of critical questions that an organization must consider when choosing to engage the discipline of strategic planning. This series will present these questions and provide guidance. The critical first question is:
Why Is Having A Strategic Plan Critical to the Success of My Business or Organization?
The well quoted proverb states that“ A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step”. The ultimate question is choosing the direction of that first step as it will ultimately lead to a specific destination. Strategic planning defines the destination and direction of an organization or business and guides progress along the path that will lead the enterprise to the desired destination. Strategic planning is critical for developing resource allocations and guiding day-to-day decisions. Strategic planning provides the foundation for evaluating progress and assessing alternative strategies when conditions warrant. Without a strategic plan an organization is flying blind without a flight plan. An organization or business may be active and even profitable but will never come close to realizing its full potential without a strategic plan. The organization may even be a good organization, comfortable with their level of success but as Jim Collins states“ Good is the enemy of Great” 1. Great organizations and businesses think and act strategically and their foundation is an effective strategic planning process.