| Remember when a whole organization of market analysts, financial analysts, researchers, planners, and so on, called Strategic Planning, carried mysticism and occupied an important role in the ivory tower? Gone are the days of the traditional tight-lipped strategic plan and its complicated implementation.
Welcome Agile Strategy Planning process. Agility is the key. And it is simpler than you think.
The core of strategic planning is pretty straightforward. Many authors and academicians may wrap it in fancy frameworks, esoteric concepts, and the latest confusing terminology. Still, it is simpler than most people think.
It is “Where Will We Play and How Will We Win?” We can expand the core by asking the following questions:
- Why does our business exist?
As Simon Sinek said, “Start with the why.”
Why should employees, owners, the customers be passionate about what we do and our intent for impact?
This question is profound that one must address. Many times small businesses consider this question relevant to larger organizations only. Not so. They will see new windows of opportunity once they seriously begin thinking about this question.
Who are our current customers? Who are in our niche market? Who is in our addressable market and we intend to serve? Who else could we help?
- What product or service do we offer?
What products and services do the customers buy from us?
What else would they buy if offered? What product, service, or application do the customers think is the “killer” offer?
How do we provide an irrefutable value for what customers buy from us? How else could we strengthen our value proposition?
Domestic, International, or even in space, where are our customers? Where do we help them? Where else could we help them?
When do we help them in their business life cycle — Seed, Start-up, Growth, Established, Expansion, Mature, or Exit? Or in their professional or personal life journey? When else could we help them?
So, the crux of strategic planning is that simple. It is about selecting alternatives and implementing why, who, what, how, where, and when. The key is critical thinking, decision-making agility, and following up with intelligent action.
What about the traditional strategic planning process and implementation? You know where people go to an offsite location for a strategic summit, are continuously doing an audit of the competition, and capturing all this on spreadsheets or similar manipulation tools. It is mostly dead. Companies still doing it need to come out from under a rock.
Considering the pace of change, whether socioeconomic, political, technological, or commerce, agility in strategy development, an ongoing dynamic process that is “ON” all the time, is a must. It may require impromptu or a cadence of meetings, whatever suits you. Agile meetings and decision-making are at the heart of enterprise agility.
Leverage agile strategy and execution to achieve desired goals and improve resource utilization and performance.
I would love to hear about your experiences! Please share your stories at satishmehtausa@gmail.com. Please forward this knowledge letter to those who could benefit from it. They can subscribe to it here or by clicking on the link below.
Thank you,
Satish Mehta
Author, Speaker, Coach
Blog
Knowledge Letter Sign Up
Books by Satish |
Negotiating Online