Strategic planning works best when it is question-based, engaging, strenths-focused and agile.
The process is realistic when it is based on questions rather than assumptions. We turn statements of what we want to see possible into new questions because questions have 3-5 times more power than statements. We work from our unknowns as questions because what we don’t know is more strategically significant than what we do know.
The process is supported when stakeholders are engaged in it rather than people we have to convert to it. People support what they help create. We are smarter together in diversity of perspectives. We can include any number of people in any strategic process.
The process has rigor when it is focused on our strengths rather than our deficiencies. When we make progress toward our strategic success it is because we have effectively leveraged the strengths we have.
The process is resilient when it has the ability of being agile and ongoing rather than periodic. Even the best laid two or five year plans start to go out of date after just six months. Because of this, we refresh the plan every two quarters because the world has changed, our learning and changed, and we have changed our world.