The Strategic Planning V3
The words "strategic planning" send chills down the spine of most reasonable people. That's due in part to less than positive experiences in a process that was called "strategic planning." Given the option of watching paint dry or engaging a strategic planning process, most would choose the former. Consultants like me share a significant degree of the blame for this reality. Many of us have made an abomination out of a process that reasonably should invigorate, energize, and inspire leadership teams of nonprofit organizations and businesses alike. The Problem The problem, at least in part is that strategic planning has been marketed as an event. You have an offsite kumbaya gathering of the executive leadership to do strategic planning. You meet for a day or perhaps two and at the end of it you emerge with an extensive work of art called a "strategic plan." Most often it promptly gets forgotten and there is little if any follow through on the conversa...