Having created and implemented strategic plans in a number of company and organization types I have often noted the Jekyll and Hyde complex that seems to surround the strategic planning area.

1. Strategic planning is boring .... exciting .... useless .... essential
Original Blog Post: http://www.rapidinfluence.com/blog-0/bid/10041/Strategic-planning-is-
boring-exciting-useless-essential
Having created and implemented strategic plans in a number of company and
organization types I have often noted the Jekyll and Hyde complex that seems to
surround the strategic planning area.
My recent check of the Twitterverse and Blogosphere highlighted again the wide
variation of opinions on the subject of strategic planning:
"All this swot etc is crap ...I can t believe mbas do this sh....t for 2 whole years"
"thinking of swot analysis. shoot me now!"
"We did some strategic planning earlier this year but no finished doc yet"
"Strategic planning at work this week - good stuff; big plans"
"Strategic planning meetings are a bunch of people talking just to hear themselves
talk.... No value chatter monkeys"
"looking forward to upcoming strategic planning weekend"
"Playing lego with son - strangely more fun than strategic planning"
"just finished strategic planning sessions, 2010 is going to be a great year"
In looking over the various comments they seem to fall into several categories:
• Those that had never been involved in strategic planning before but were
really ready to go - this group seems to be strangely euphoric about the whole
idea and is ready to make change and do great things in their organizations
• Those that had been involved in strategic planning but seemed to have had
bad experiences - this group is quite vocal about their agony and given that
most strategic plans fail it is quite understandable that they would be so vocal
about the potential of wasting their time and in some cases boring themselves to
death
• Those that derive a living from helping others with strategic planning.

2. It's fairly easy to assume that people who derive their living from strategic plan
facilitation would be out and promoting the benefits of strategic planning but it is clear
that with a large number of people strategic planning ranks right up there with going to
the dentist for a root canal, necessary, yes, and quite a lot better than doing nothing
about that aching tooth.
So, why is it that this great idea of strategic planning seems to crash and burn with so
many people?
In short, the experience is not consistent for people and neither is the outcome.
The fact of the matter is everyone knows intellectually that having a strategic plan
makes complete sense. The challenge is that for many their experience has been one
of absolute boredom and mundane chatter followed by the failure of a useful outcome.
By contrast with the dentist, even though that root canal is painful, most people will
happily recommend a dentist because the outcome of a root canal for 99% of the
people in the world is fantastic, not so with strategic planning.
So, what can be done about it?
To put it simply: reduce the complexity and get to the outcomes quickly.
• Breakdown planning into simpler concepts: the fact of the matter is people
need to master things in segments in order to get good at them, this is no
different with strategic planning skills.
A common cry that I have heard is SWOT, Capabilities Analysis, Mission, Vision help! If
you are just starting your first plans or you are a planning consultant you've got to bring
people into the planning and implementation process at a speed that makes sense.
It may be fun for you as a consultant or skilled person within a company to build a well
documented and masterful plan but odds are the other people involved are going to be
overwhelmed and Twittering out comments like the ones above. A plan that takes too
long or is incomprehensible to the people who are most affected by it is useless.
• Get to the actions: in today's business climate we are measured by outcomes
and outcomes are the result of specific actions, the plans that sit on the shelf
because people don't know where to start on them are a waste of time. If you
can leave strategic planning sessions with an actual list of do this, then this, then
this, you will be able to increase the success of the overall strategic plan.
People are good at following steps, so get to the specific actions and give people a
sense of accomplishment along the way.

3. In our business we live by a Manifesto, which covers both how we operate the business
and how we build our strategic planning solutions. This Manifesto is very much based
on the simplicity of concepts and the getting to actions.
It's up to the entire industry whether they are consultants or product providers to reduce
this Jekyll and Hyde complex that surrounds strategic planning and get more plans
completed and successfully implemented.
Ed Loessi