Category Archives: strategic planning

Where Do We Want To Be?

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Articulating A Bold Consensus Vision of the Desired Future

vision.path2As often attributed to Cat and Alice in Lewis Carroll’s novel, “if you don’t know where you are going, any road will get you there.”

The visioning phase of strategic planning is about becoming crystal clear on your destination – the vivid images of what you’ll see when you get there. This creative, aspirational, and visionary stage is usually the one that your participants are looking forward to. In this phase, the focus of participants shifts from the past/present to the future, while building on the best of today.

Before you facilitate a visioning process, ensure that the group or organization’s mission and values are clear to participants. Why? If not,  the answers they give may include “why we exist” and the “values that guide our work”, rather than “where we want to be in our preferred future”.

Ground the vision with insights from external and internal environmental scan conversations, to leverage strengths and opportunities, side-step issues and address obstacles to success. The questions to ask include:

  • What is our audacious goal?  In your boldest vision of the future, what is the most compelling and motivating stretch goal that you aspire to achieve?
  • What will success look like? How will you know that you’ve achieved your vision; what are the specific results you’ll see when you get there?

Call to Action:

If you are an executive, manager, strategic planner, change agent, professional facilitator, or any leader seeking to facilitate productive, positive and aligning strategic planning meetings and change initiatives, register now for The Strategic Facilitator: Aligning Around Vision and Strategy, Vancouver area, June 19-21, 2013.

You will understand how to guide the entire process of strategic planning, from clarifying why you exist as a group or organization, to assessing your current situation, describing your desired future state, establishing the strategies that will propel you forward, and determining how you’ll know if you’ve succeeded.

Just starting out? These courses will enhance your facilitation confidence and empower you with solid foundational skills: The Confident Facilitator; The Skillful Facilitator.

Where Are We Now?

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creative tensionAnalyzing the Current Situation*

Creative tension is a key concept that informs the Insight phase of our model of Strategic Planning, and goes like this: ”Successful change is the result of seeking to resolve the creative tension that arises from simultaneously:

  1. Holding a clear-eyed and honest observation of current reality (where things are now )
  2. Remaining steadfastly committed to a clear and compelling future vision (where we want things to be), i.e., refusing to settle for less than what we want, despite reality.”

The implications for facilitating the process of Strategic Planning is that after the external scan, it is important to guide your group through another series of conversations to analyze, and dialogue about, the current internal situation. Ask: What is our understanding of where we are today? What is our influence and position relative to other players in this industry/sector? What is our current capacity and strengths on which future success can be built? What gaps exist between what is promised and what we deliver? This analysis of competencies, critical vulnerabilities, key potential growth areas and external threats is the first step in building creative tension. (A future blog will cover the second step, vision.)

* This blog follows previous Strategic Planning posts.  The concept of creative tension was popularized for learning organizations by MIT Professor Peter Senge (Fifth Discipline), the concept was first introduced by Robert Fritz (Path of Least Resistance).

Call to Action:

If you are an executive, manager, strategic planner, change agent, or any leader seeking to facilitate productive, positive and aligning strategic planning meetings and change initiatives, consider attending The Strategic Facilitator: Aligning Around Vision and Strategy in Metro Vancouver, BC, June 19-21, 2013.

You will understand how to guide the entire process of strategic planning, from clarifying why you exist as a group or organization, to assessing your current situation, describing your desired future state, establishing the strategies that will propel you forward, and determining how you’ll know if you’ve succeeded.

 

What’s Changing?

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Once your group, organization or business is clear on its mission , who they serve and the core values that guide the way we do things around here, the next set of process questions in strategic planning relate to scanning the present and anticipated future operating context.

What is changing in our external context?

The examination of the external environment is essential to understanding the complexities, uncertainties and possibilities for change. Your business or organization does not exist in a vacuum. Everyone involved in setting new strategic directions needs to develop a big picture view of significant factors and trends with the potential likely to influence your future success. Typical scan categories include the political environment, economic climate, social, technology along with sector/industry/discipline-specific arenas.

What is changing for our customers/stakeholders?

(Drucker’s question #3 is: What does the customer value?) Your future goals must anticipate and respond to the changing needs and realities of your key customers and stakeholders. Your strategic plan must not only ensure your organization delivers on their current expectations of value; it must anticipate or create what their future needs are likely to be. Insights are gained through research, focus groups or other discovery and learning conversations.

What are strategic innovation possibilities?

Whether for-profit or social-non-profit, your organization’s strategic plan must consider emerging best practices, leading-edge innovations, key drivers, core competencies and changing rules for success.

Call to Action:

The Masterful Facilitation Institute exists to build your confidence and skills as an effective facilitator so you can design and facilitate great meetings – every time, for any purpose.

If you are an executive, manager, strategic planner, change agent, or any leader seeking to facilitate productive, positive and aligning strategic planning meetings and change initiatives, sign up for The Strategic Facilitator: Aligning Around Vision and Strategy.

You will understand how to guide the entire process of strategic planning, from clarifying why you exist as a group or organization, to assessing your current situation, describing your desired future state, establishing the strategies that will propel you forward, and determining how you’ll know if you’ve succeeded.

Facilitating Strategic Planning

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A fundamental competency of leaders is to guide the direction-setting process for their business, organization or group, typically through strategic planning. A good strategic plan provides clarity, focus, consensus and alignment at all levels to priority goals and results.

Key Process Questions

In this blog series, we will cover key process questions around which the process of strategic planning is facilitated:

  • Who are we?
  • What do we do?
  • Where are we now?
  • Where do we want to be?
  • How will we get there?

Along the way, as we unpack these high level questions, we will emphasize when to answer Peter Drucker’s five most important questions to ask your organization:

  1. What is our Mission?
  2. Who is our Customer?
  3. What does the Customer Value?
  4. What are our Results?
  5. What is Our Plan?

Call to Action:

The Masterful Facilitation Institute exists to build your confidence and skills as an effective facilitator so you can design and facilitate great meetings – every time, for any purpose.
If you are an executive, manager, strategic planner, change agent, or any leader seeking to facilitate productive, positive and aligning strategic planning meetings and change initiatives, sign up for The Strategic Facilitator: Aligning Around Vision and Strategy.

You will understand how to guide the entire process of strategic planning, from clarifying hy you exist as a group or organization, to assessing your current situation, describing your desired future state, establishing the strategies that will propel you forward, and determining how you’ll know if you’ve succeeded.