Collins/Fox Strategies Group, LLC

THE 10 (NEW) IRREFUTABLE RULES OF

STRATEGIC PLANNING

“Running on empty, running blind,

running into the sun, but I’m running behind…..

You know, I don’t even know what I’m hoping to find…”

                                                                                         – Jackson Browne

In today’s chaotic world, where the rules are changing constantly, the old truths are no longer valid, and the new truths are not yet known, how in the world can any self-respecting leader/manager be expected to put together a Long Range Plan, one that looks out 3-5 years?  It’s a crapshoot, pure and simple, goes the conventional wisdom and, therefore the value of a LRP has become marginalized at best.  It’s a management tool whose time hs come and gone.  It’s outmoded.

Insert Lee Corso photo here

“Not so fast my friend”

                                                                                          –  Lee Corso

                                                                                          ESPN College Game Day

Perhaps not.  Perhaps we need to look at the planning process from a different perspective.  And, in the process of doing so, consider the 10 (New) Rules of Strategic Planning.

Rule #1:  Decide what you want to be and then be it.

The primary reason Long Range Plans aren’t DOA these days is because the only entity a business is really competing with is itself.  All LRPs really are are the world’s longest “To Do” lists.  It’s only by getting the corporate “To Dos” crossed off the list that the Plan gets implemented.  Creating Plans:  Easy.  Implementing Plans:  Hard.  See Rules #9 and #10.

Rule #2:  There MUST be a champion.

LRPs must have a true believer.  Someone who will champion the process of both creating the Plan and seeing that it gets implemented.  By necessity, the planning process and the actual Plan, itself, must enjoy the unqualified support of the CEO.  But, that does not mean the CEO has to be the champion.  However, if the champion is not the CEO, then they need to be someone who reports directly to the CEO.  And can speak and act with the authority of the CEO.  If there is no champion, there will be no Plan.

Insert “Synch or Swim” cartoon here

Rule #3:  There MUST be commitment.

All, and I do mean ALL, members of the Senior Management team need to be as committed  –as in synch — with the business’ Vision, Mission, Objectives, Goals and Strategies as the CEO is.  There can be no game-playing.  No subverting.  No undercutting of the Plan by any member of the team.  Either climb on board or leave.

Insert photo of Thanksgiving Dinner here

Rule #4:  You can only eat one bite at a time.

Long Range Plans are the business equivalent of Thanksgiving dinner.  You’ve got this massive feast laid out before you and you can’t wait to eat it.  but, it can only be eaten one bite at a time.  That’s why LRPs need to broken into three sections.  The first section is the high level recitation of Threats & Opportunities, Strengths & Weaknesses, Vision, Mission, Brand, Objectives, Goals and Strategies.  It’s typically written by the champion based on input from and in collaboration with either or both of the Board of Directors and other members of the senior management team.  It basically defines where the organization wants to be 3-5 years from now and how it intends to get there.

“Strategy without tactics is the slowest route to victory.
Tactics without strategy is the noise before defeat”.

                                                                – (Attributed to) Sun-Tzu
“The Art of War”

The second section of the LRP contains the Operating Plan.  Operating Plans have one year time horizons and are developed/written by the business’ various product line/division/department/functional managers.  Operating Plans define the Tactics, or specific action steps (bites), that must be completed to get Strategies implemented (Thanksgiving dinner eaten).  Most Strategies are complex and multi-faceted.  They require coordinated effort across a variety of functions/departments/
teams if they are to get implemented.  Operating Plans are the “guts” of the “To Do” lists.  The third and final section of the LRP includes the various Budgets for the coming year:  sales, G&A, capital expenditures, headcount, marketing, etc.

Rule #5:  Buy-in at all levels is critical

Buy-in cannot be imposed.  It can only be obtained when there is a feeling of ownership.  Ownership comes from an ability to contribute, to provide input.  This is why Operating Plans need to be written by the people who are directly responsible for getting Strategies implemented.  Department heads.  Team leaders.  Product line managers.  No matter how well-written, how insightful, how brilliantly conceived its Strategies might be, if the Plan doesn’t get implemented, its value is zero.

Rule #6:  Coordination is paramount.

Coordination is only possible if buy-in has been achieved.  It’s virtually impossible to envision a strategic initiative that doesn’t require the combined efforts of multiple departments/functions to get it implemented.  The combined efforts of the offices, IT, marketing, HR, Operations, Legal, etc. is simply critical to success.  If each of these functional areas are not on the same page by the time their Operating Plans are completed, all hell will soon break loose.  Consequently, projects (Strategies) have to agreed upon and prioritized in advance, timelines have to be coordinated and someone, like a Chief Operating Officer, has to be given overall authority — authority that crosses departmental/functional lines — to ensure that it all comes together as envisioned.  this is one of the most difficult parts of implementation.

Insert photos of Getty Museum & Egyptian pyramid here

Rule #7:  Consistency is the mother’s milk of planning.

The Getty Museum, with its twists and turns and multiple planes is a stunning work of art in its own right.  But, symbolically, as a metaphor for a Long Range Plan, it’s exactly the opposite of what is required.  Instead, the clean, simple elegance of the pyramid, with each level building off of the lower one in increasingly focused and narrow layers represents exactly what the planning process is all about.  It begins with a series of broad bases starting with a Vision for what the company is all about.  Then a set of Values is layered on top of that followed by a Mission Statement, Objectives, Goals, Strategies and, finally, at the narrowed top of the pyramid, the detailed Tactics that are required to implement the Strategies, achieve the Goals, meet the Objectives and fulfill the Mission and Vision.  There are no gables.  No offshoots, additions or wings.  No cowboys off doing their own thing.  Just simple, clean consistency.

Rule #8:  Vision, Values, Mission and Strategy cannot be delegated.  They are the CEO’s responsibility.  Exclusively.

This, however, does not mean that a collaborative, consensus-oriented decision-making process should not be utilized.  It should.  In virtually every (non-emergency) case, better decisions are arrived at when many heads are involved in the process rather thn just one.  CEOs must be open to input.  In fact, input should be solicited from throughout the organization.  But, if there’s disagreement within the team as to what the organization’s Mission should be , or what Strategies should be employed to fulfill that Mission, then the CEO has to have the final word on the key elements that define the organization.

Pilot to passengers:  “Ladies and gentlemen, this is your captain speaking.  I’m afraid I’ve got some good news and some bad news to report.  First the bad news:  We’re lost.  But, the good news is we’re making good time”.

Rule #9:  Do what you say you’re going to do when you say you’re going to do it

Consistent updates (monthly or quarterly) are an important key to an effective implementation process.  Progress relative to achieving sales or production budgets and completion of tasks and projects (Tactics) on a timely basis is absolutely necessary to ensure the troops know you’re serious   But, about getting the Plan implemented.  Without a commitment to a consistent check-in process, planning becomes just a waste of time, producing a document that lives in a drawer or sits on a shelf, never to be heard from again until next year, when the same waste of time happens all over again.  LRPs need to be thought of as the business’ Flight Plan.  They need to be managed to.  Remember Rule #1:  the only entity you’re really competing with is yourself.  This is where you keep score.

“We have met the enemy and it is us”.

                                                                                         – Pogo by Walt Kelly

Rule #10:  Reward implementation success.

Many people do not like to be held accountable, CEOs included.  But, when you’re competing against yourself, that is no longer acceptable.  So, an objective reward system must be developed based on implementation success, not just the overall financial performance of the organization.  There are simply too many factors outside of management’s control that can impact overall profitability.  For instance, what’s the economy going to do?  Where are interest rates headed?  What new irrational law will Congress pass?  What new technology is going to burst forth?  And, what new competitors are going to emerge?  All good and relevant questions but all outside of management’s control.  The only things that can be controlled by management are its vision for the organization and how it goes about achieving it  Implementation is everything and successful implementation needs to be rewarded.  Everything else is “Just wind, friend, just wind” as Yul Brynner so succinctly put it to Steve McQueen as they were driving that hearse up to Boot Hill in The Magnificent Seven all those many years ago.