The Ancient History of Strategic Planning
Posted by Joe Strategy on June 11, 2010 in Ideology
“The way in which strategic planning is performed is a relic of the past, not reflective of our dynamic times.” — Joe Strategy
My first strategic planning session was in 1996. I participated in one last year that was almost identical in process, exercises, and focus — as were the dozen others in which I have been a participant instead of a facilitator.
- Too many strategic planning practices have not kept up with real business world changes.
- Tried and true can promote laziness.
- What are your thoughts?
- Perform a SWOT analysis? Check.
- Build/revisit the mission/vision statements? Check.
- Identify some short and long-term goals? Check.
- Identify some actions we can take to get there? Check.
The world in which we live today is almost unrecognizable from the reality that was 1996:
- GM and Ford were numbers 1 and 2 on the Fortune 500.
- Jim Collins had just published Built to Last in 1994 and it would be another five years before Good to Great was published.
- Netscape was the dominant web browser, AOL the dominant company in the emerging Internet era and Google didn’t exist; much less Facebook or Twitter.
Yet, while Thomas Friedman was busy proving that Columbus was only partially right – the world is in fact kind of flat, nothing in the world of strategic planning changed?
Has there not been an evolution in thoughts on competition, diversification, or the relationship between the customer and brand? Have we not seen new business models emerge and old ones collapse? How can one look externally and not consider the simplicity of Blue Ocean strategy? Or, how can one discuss the purpose of an organization and not have a conversation about the Hedgehog Concept or BHAG? Have we not learned anything from our rock star stategists? Is there not something we can learn from the past fourteen years of strategic business thinking and apply it to the planning process?
Of course there are plenty of ideas like those I’ve just named that should be part of the process, but the problem is that strategic planning is a tired profession these days. The process is tried and true which means for newbie planners it is simple to learn and for the old hand plannner, the tried and true promotes laziness. Why learn something new and push yourself when there is no motivation to do so?
If we are to add value for our customers, we as strategists need to integrate new thinking into the planning process. We need to bring strategy into the new millenium and use it to differentiate true strategists from the zombies.
What business ideas, models and concepts do you think should be part of a best practice planning process?
re: strategic planning
I have to say this blog was very refreshing. Although I’m not a strategist myself, I have read quite a bit on strategic planning.
How about this… since our world continues to “get smaller” why don’t strategists move their focus outward more than they have in the past, to include the global economy. Instead of just putting up a website targeting several different countries and crossing their fingers, how about focusing on developing greater diversity within their own companies? And not by just putting up posters of different ethnic groups either – but in the management and leadership roles, in order to really make a change in the company’s culture.
I’d bet on the company that truly diversifies from within to do better than those that “keep on keepin’ on”