Ensuringthe implementation of a strategic planisa‘whole of organisation’and beyondexperience will makethe processinfinitely easier.
What is the hardest part of strategic planning?The answer to that is clearly its implementation.Butmaking the process a ‘whole oforganisation’experiencecanensure buy-in and leadership acrossthe business. Bringinginother stakeholdersincluding both suppliers and customers can further enrich the process.
My many years’ experienceworking in change management and senior leadership roleshas reinforced one important lesson about strategic planning: when you develop your strategy, you need to considerallaspects of your business.It is not enough toinvolveonly those parts of your business thatare directly alignedwith yourstrategicgoals.
In the mix of people, policyandprocess, itmay bethat support systems, such as ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning),finance andHRare placingindirect constraints and risks to your goals.
Conversely, while yourcore operations may be sound, the support systemsmaybe the ones tooffer the real potential to gain an edge.
A good strategic plan will help you lead your business forward, butitalso needs good leadership. Tome,a key strengthof the Haines processis that leadership at all levels is a cornerstone.Thisenables all levels of theorganisationto engage with developing the strategy.
While any strategy mustbe led, such leadership is not the exclusiveresponsibilityof those in formal leadership positions. AsApple Co-FounderSteve Jobsis often quotedas saying:‘it doesn’t make sense to hire smart people and tell them what to do;we hire smart peopleandthey tell us what to do’.
This approach in no way abrogates the responsibilities of management. AsI previously stated,implementationis the hard part–something management is always ultimately responsiblefor.
It also dovetails nicely with perhaps one of the stronger approaches to leadership, the‘leader-follower’model based on the hypothesis that suggests natural leaders arise due to knowledge and experience of a given task. In other words, all other skills being equal, let those suited to the task lead the task.
I had a friendrecently recounta conversation with a US Navy fighter pilot, who in his spare time flew gliders becauseit was the only otherwayhe could feel the‘whole of body experience’that a carrier deck landing entailed. Strategic planning for any organisation should be the same– a‘whole of organisation’experience.
About theAuthor:
Jason Thomasis the Founder ofde Montaigne StrategicPlanning,whichprovides robust strategic planning and training services to small to medium-sized enterprises, not-for-profitorganisationsandgovernment departments.
He has over 30 years’ experiencein senior leadership, operational and planning roles across the military, public and private sectors. In addition, Jason holds numerous degrees and qualifications includingGold Mastery Certificationwith the Haines Centre for Strategic Management.
