3 Techniques for a More Agile Strategic Plan
One of my favorite excuses to take a road trip is that my wife reads novels aloud to our family in the car. Over the years, she has read through an impressive stack of books, but a particular favorite is a series, which follows Miles, the scion of an important military family. Miles is an irrepressible misfit, who bristles at the shackles of his rigid and protective world, throwing himself at adventure with over-optimistic exuberance. His triumphs are interrupted by the occasional spectacular defeat; yet he always somehow manages to turn it to his advantage and forge a path ahead.
Miles’ experience as a developing leader tracks. Trying to grow a business is not for the faint-of-heart. The peaks are high and the valleys low. Success sometimes teeters on the willing suspension of disbelief. And yet, for those who feel driven to accomplish big goals, there is hardly a choice but to plow forward, no matter how daunting the task. So when I sat down, in the face of my own daunting circumstances, to work on my first strategic plan just over a decade ago, I knew that it had to start with Miles’ catchphrase: “No battle plan survives first contact with the enemy.”
To me, this quote (by Helmuth von Moltke) epitomizes the reality of a key piece of the strategic planning equation. It acknowledges that, notwithstanding all the variables we consider when developing a plan, the circumstances on the ground will almost always be somewhat, if not vastly, different from the anticipated scenario. There are so many reasons why this tends to be true: the lapse of time between planning and execution; unforeseen, unconsidered, or unexplained variables; inadequate communication among team members; and the fact that the “enemy” gets to shoot back, among others.
When one considers how commonly these circumstances arise in real life situations, it’s remarkable how many plans actually succeed! But it also explains why so many strategic planning efforts fail. Planning is typically, necessarily a linear process. Outcomes are tied to business cycles – monthly, quarterly, annually – which require milestones to track progress. Dependencies demand that some objectives must be achieved before others.
But executing a strategy is almost never linear. Problems arise, unexpected resistance occurs, and we are forced to loop back to solve problems that may not have even been apparent in the planning process. As yet more time passes, the strategic landscape may shift—sometimes in dramatic ways. If the plan fails to adapt to these seismic shifts, businesses can end up in a completely different place than they expected. Leaders are routinely forced to improvise when we run out of script. The question is not whether, but how and when organizations will be challenged to operate in this space. Planning processes often fail us in this regard, but there are a few simple adaptations that companies can make to their planning processes that will help avoid these pitfalls and stay on track.
1. Keep it short. This is both a temporal and literal suggestion. Don’t build a 5- or 10- year strategic plan. In the information economy, plans that try to predict specific metrics that far into the future are unlikely to be accurate or successful. Instead, choose a time frame of two years or less to keep the team focused on the next critical objectives for the business. Similarly, keep the plan document short and clear so that all of the stakeholders understand the time frame and objectives and can reference them regularly and quickly.
2. Practice improvising. Reserve time in your strategic planning sessions to develop business improvisation skills. Use tabletop exercises and other live response scenarios to help your team build muscle memory about how to make strategic decisions in unexpected or crisis situations. While it is unlikely to account for all potential scenarios, walking through this process will help establish problem-solving frameworks that are generally applicable to a broad array of situations.
3. Revise iteratively. Consistent with keeping a plan concise and focused, it’s helpful to have some regular breakpoints or milestones that allow the group to quickly re-assess if a plan is still aiming at the target or whether the landscape has changed. Create opportunities in your plans to convene and reflect on how things are going so that appropriate adjustments can be made. Incorporating these techniques in your strategic planning process won’t guarantee victory, but by decreasing the likelihood that your plans will be disrupted by the opposing force, the chances for success are much, much greater.