Not Another "Me-Too" Strategic Plan

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Not Another "Me-Too" Strategic Plan

By Ron Robinson, President of ABARIS Consulting Inc.
March 21, 2005

Introduction

The process of strategic planning has become one of uniformity. The strategic plans of one organization look very much like that of every other organization, except for a changed title page. Compounding this uniformity are the so-called consulting experts who do strategic planning with one organization after another using the same template, asking the same questions and putting the responses in the same boxes. So how do you differentiate your strategic planning so that you don‘t end up with another "me-too" strategy?

Understanding the Problem

We see the problem of "me-too" strategies being a result of:

• Poorly trained consultants that provide strategic planning advice and process.
• Insufficient funding within many not-for-profit organizations to undertake the analysis needed to tackle the in-depth issues specific to their organization.
• Excessive focus on process that concentrates on getting "consensus" around the direction the organization should pursue.
• Insufficient effort placed on detailed organizational analysis and change management to ensure meaningful implementation.

How You Can Solve the Problem

These four problems can be addressed by your organization during the process of preparing for your strategic plan.

1. When hiring your consultant think of it in the same manner as when you hire a staff person. Get proposals from several consultants, just as you would get resumes from several candidates for a full-time position. Look beyond their experience. MetaMorphics (a US based HR company) proved in the 1990s that relying on job experience as a primary criterion in hiring staff resulted in poor performance. They discovered that it was the competencies of the individual that was the determining factor in a successful employee and not experience. This can be applied to the hiring of a consultant. Although the consultant may have worked in the not-for-profit sector as an executive director (for example) and/or has conducted multiple strategic plans for other organizations, you need to look deeper than that. You should also ask yourself the following questions:

a. What specific education in the area of strategic management has the consultant completed?

b. To which associations does he/she belong, in order to keep up-to-date with best practices in the field of strategic management. For example, is he/she a member of the Strategic Management Society or the International Association of Facilitators?

c. Ask consultants about the different tools or models they have used (or would consider using with your organization) in the development of a strategic plan. If all they can come up with is vision, mission, priorities, objectives, goals and the infamous diamond e model or SWOT analysis, then you‘re probably just going to get another "me-too" strategic plan.

d. Be careful to distinguish flash from substance. Don‘t get caught up in the pitch or the network of the consultant. Being a good motivational speaker is very entertaining but it won‘t provide you with the depth of analysis (with the correct tools) you need to address your real issues. Once the hype is gone, you‘re still left to make it work. Also, don‘t be overly impressed with the network of the consultant. While a strong network helps build the opportunity for a consultant to get business, it doesn‘t result in a better strategic plan for you.

2. Insufficient funding often translates into insufficient depth of analysis that is required to drive the development of a truly differentiable strategy. Remember, strategy is a creative process built on analytical data. Many not-for-profits forget the "built on analytical data" part of it. This part doesn‘t have to be expensive. You can always engage the consultant to work with you for a day to determine the analysis that needs to be done and the tools that should be used, and then have staff and/or volunteers (including the board) work through it. This, of course, assumes that the consultant you‘ve hired has the knowledge to provide you with the tools, (not just a SWOT analysis). The results from this analysis should then be disseminated prior to the start of your strategy development process.

3. There is a saying that "if you haven‘t caused any trouble then you‘re probably not doing anything." While this may be excessive (as most sayings often are) it does imply that if you‘re not being innovative and pushing the boundaries then you‘re probably doing the same thing over and over. In addition, we‘ve all heard that the definition of insanity is "doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results." Excessive focus on process to build consensus can lead to watered down decisions, or can inhibit the organization from moving in the directions that it needs to. The power of the status quo cannot be underestimated. Change is a difficult process. Everyone would generally agree that buy-in and engagement of key stakeholders is critical to being able to implement the plan. The trick is not to overdo it. In our consulting practice we see far too many organizations spending excessive amounts of resources in building stakeholder commitment. The key is to only put enough resources into building the support you need and no more. Focus more resources into pushing the status quo and being innovative.

4. We tell our clients that "To Plan is to Prepare. To Implement is to Benefit.? In other words, if sufficient time isn‘t spent on translating the strategy into operations and the implications on the organization, then you may be prepared but will see little benefit. If your organization doesn‘t have a detailed annual operating planning process that includes action plans, measures of performance, and resource expectations all linked to a financial budget and consistent with your organizational structure then you should spend at least 1/3 of the time you have for strategic planning on the implementation. In a previous life as the internal strategic planning consultant for London Life we used to say, "a mediocre plan well implemented provides far more benefit than a great plan poorly implemented."

Summary

To help reduce the probability of developing another "me-too" strategic plan consider the following:

• Hire a consultant that has training and expertise in strategic management, not just experience.
• Invest more resources in doing detailed analysis of issues that are key to your specific business and organization and use this information during your strategy development process.
• Build commitment to your plan, but not at the expense of watering down the strategies just to achieve consensus. Leadership sometimes means standing out in front and dragging others along with you.
• Invest at least 1/3 of your resources (that are budgeted for the strategic planning process) on the implementation of your plan. This is especially so if you don‘t have a detailed annual operating planning process.

Ron Robinson is the president of ABARIS Consulting Inc. He can be reached at [phone] or rrobinson@. This article is provided free of charge, for information purposes only and is not intended, represented or to be inferred as providing advice. ABARIS Consulting Inc. makes no warranty, express or implied, or assumes any legal liability for accuracy, completeness, or usefulness of any information provided in whole or in part within this article.

ABARIS Consulting Inc. is credited as the source on all copies, reproductions and distributions, and CharityVillage.com is credited as the original publisher.