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Agile Strategic Planning for a Rapidly Changing World
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Performance Pointers

Agile Strategic Planning for a Rapidly Changing World

I’ve been involved in many strategic planning cycles, both a member of the executive team and as the facilitator/consultant. For anyone to whom the strategic planning process is unfamiliar, let me tell you: they are a monsters to create. But, so we had learned, and so the management gurus out there told us, they were Critical to any Organization’s Success. Absolutely Vital.  (Incidentally, the capitalization of these terms is not a typo, but a reference to Winnie-the-Pooh’s penchant for capitalizing Grand Words of Great Importance; he being a Bear of Little Brain, it helps him focus on the important things in life. )

Over the years, I have come to two conclusions:
1) Most strategic plans are not all that strategic, they’re mostly operational. The give-away: they focus on what and how the company is going to meet its goals over the next 1, 2 or 3 years; not on the goals themselves.
2) The Strategic Plan becomes the Bible, and it is implemented and interpreted literally and strictly, with almost evangelical fervour. It never changes during the year, and only incrementally at the end of each “Strategic Planning Cycle”. 

The first point is worthy of a dedicated article, which will have to wait for another time, since I really wanted to address the second point, in the context of the volatile economic environment we’re in right now. As the stock market goes up and down by hundreds of points on a daily basis, and predicting which way it will go is akin to flipping a coin, companies are floundering. There’s the Strategic Plan, outlining all the goals, targets and activities Required to Meet Goals (and Analyst’s Expectations) and it’s become worse than useless. Bear with me as I explore a nautical metaphor:

Not only is it now useless as a guide to navigating the company through the rough seas, it has become a liability. Based on assumptions and projections, and virtually locked in for the next year or so, it becomes not the guiding beacon, but the dead weight of a drag-anchor off the stern, slowing the ship down, snagging on unexpected obstacles under water, and greatly hindering its maneuverability. To continue the metaphor just a little bit further: we’re no longer sailing on the open ocean. Somehow, the vessel has entered into the shallows, and there are jagged reefs all around. Even slow speed ahead will crash it into a reef sooner or later.

The Strategic Plan is no longer the appropriate vessel to steer the company safely. Instead of a large, ocean-going ship, what we need in these times is a sleek, nimble, highly maneuverable small boat, like a motorized canoe or skiff. How does that translate to the strategic planning process that organizations have come to rely on? Here’s my suggestion:

Borrowing from the world of software development, I am going to coin the phrase “Agile Strategy Development”. Instead of an annual process, that takes many weeks to complete, and that is captured in a weighty document called “The 2010-2012 Strategic Planning Document”, what organizations need to start doing is initiating an Agile Process, with monthly “Strategy Scrums”, where the company’s goals and targets are redefined, reset, adjusted, revised and/or scrapped. Then, for the next 30 days, the so-called Sprint, the company runs flat-out to get as close to those re-jigged goals as possible. At the end of each sprint, evaluate, discuss, and adjust during the next Strategy Scrum. And so another cycle of 30 days execution on goals begins.

While we’re on the subject of Scrums, it may also be a great idea to start involving more than just the top C-level executives in the - now Agile - strategic planning scrum process. You’d be surprised at how many great, innovative ideas can bubble up from the rank-and-file and the line managers. It also helps greatly in the execution sprint if the ones doing the actual work feel they were part of the discussion and co-creators of the solutions.

Last updated on May 06, 2009 at 09:18 AM
Category: Knowledge Management  Leadership Development  Managing Change 
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