Shawnee Love   •  
June 20, 2013

Training Sessions, Books, and Articles on Strategic Planning should come with a Warning:

Do not try this on your own the first time. Expert demonstration!

Because strategic planning is one of those things that looks and sounds easier than it is.  You have to look with a critical eye at your business and the environment it lives in as well as open and clean out those locked closets, look under and behind furniture (aka people, processes and structure) and take sacred cows off their altars.  It is scary and messy and sometimes painful for the business and business owner.

Saying that, once you have been through the process, you will be amazed at the science behind a good process and how the planning leads to a work of art which prepares your organization for the future.

Like a thorough spring cleaning of a house, anyone can do strategic planning as long as they follow the steps (and aren’t afraid to throw out garbage, re-organize, and scrub the grime away):

1. Define your Vision, Mission & Values
2. Analyze your environment and what you have to work with
3. Figure out the Big Hairy Goals you need to achieve (and the realistic time frames required) in order to achieve your Vision (eventually)
4. Build tactical plans under those Big Hairy Goals for time frames that make sense in your business.
5. Identify the deliverables and milestones and how you will measure progress and success along the way in each area of your business.

We will talk more about these steps in coming weeks. Hope you come back for more.