Strategic planning

3 posts

The concept of sustainability has become an imperative consideration for businesses of all sizesâin every industry. CEOs are now tasked with the critical responsibility of not only driving short-term profits but also ensuring the long-term viability and success of their companies. Lack of planning from CEOs can significantly impact their companies' future success and resilience in an increasingly competitive market.

In this article, Work It DAILY experts from Vistage discuss how not planning risks missing opportunities for growth and innovation, failing to mitigate potential risks, and jeopardizing the future of the company. Read on to learn about the importance of planning for business sustainability and how to start a long-term plan for your organization today.

Mark Fackler

Our world is moving so fast. Business opportunities are near infinite. Your company can possibly survive without planning, but it will most likely never become sustainable. There is nothing wrong with an unsustainable business. I know many CEOs who have these types of businesses, run by their sheer tenacity. They provide a decent living and pride of ownership.

However, if you want to go beyond this, and create an ever-growing sustainable business, planning is mandatory. In the beginning, planning can be just in your head. But as the number of employees grows, getting your thoughts, and your plans, down on paper must happen.

Owners are bombarded on a daily basis with threats and opportunities. Without plans, decisions can and will be haphazard. Haphazard decision-making is not sustainable. As you grow, your employees will be faced with issues that they need to resolve in real time: an upset customer, a quality control problem, or on the exciting side, a prospective sale. Written plans that staff are intimately familiar with allow them to make the decision and know that the decision is aligned with the company goals, the company plans.

The most important and longest-term planning starts with your core values. These should be the one foundation in planning that rarely, if ever, changes. Core values define behaviors, behaviors that are aspirational and sometimes not possible to achieve. For example, my company's core values were honesty, home/life balance, and relentless improvement. Honesty is one of those values that is aspirational and unachievable in its purest sense, but that is not an excuse to stop striving to be 100%.

The next level of planning is the more traditional concept of long-term goals. Those goals can range from five years to 20 years or even to 100 years. These goals help the CEO avoid the shiny object syndrome. Visionary CEOs see opportunities as often as they get up in the morning. Long-term goals are especially effective at providing bumpers and guide rails to new initiatives.

Core values and long-term goals help keep you focused and help keep the team focused. Focus happens when you know when to say âyesâ and, even more important, when to say âno.â With focus comes sustainability. Sustainability is good.

Mark Fackler is a retired CEO and currently leads the Vistage CEO group that he was a member of from 1991 to 2002. He is passionate about creating great ROI for his member CEOs.

Kirsten Yurich

Employees/coworkers in a meeting discuss business sustainability and planning

Do you have a plan? Or do you have a strategy?

You need both! And you need to know the difference.

Too often companies and leaders are lulled into a big board room with coffee and snacks and a whiteboard and Post-it notesâ¦ and engage in âstrategic planning.â

Iâve done this myself!

What I want to be clear on is this. A strategy is not a plan. A plan is not a strategy. And yet, you must develop both or your company is doomed.

You control a plan. A plan is safe. A plan has to do with your resources, your people, your costs. You build a building. You train, hire, and fire. You launch a new product.

You do not control strategy. It is a set of interrelated decisions that you make.

You have what they call a "theory." A hypothesis of how to WIN at your business.

You canât show it on a balance sheet. But you BELIEVE that if you play on THAT playing field or in THAT sandbox you will outperform your competitors. It is in that field you will âwinââ¦ revenue, market share, or sales.

Conversely, the plan consists of the tactics or set of activities to deploy your resources in service to the strategy.

Where I have seen companies succeed and struggle are two key areas. First, how simply can they distill the strategy to every employee? Second, how frequently do they revisit the strategy and test their theory against relevant information?

"If you donât know where you are going, any road will get you there." âCheshire Cat, Alice in Wonderland.

Kirsten Yurich is a former CEO and current Vistage Chair. As a clinician, professor, author, and executive, she leverages this unique blend and creates learning environments for executives to become better leaders, spouses, and parents.

Mike Thorne

Employees/leaders in a business meeting look at data to make up for lack of planning

In thinking about why this matters to SMB owners, I am reminded of Elon Muskâs recent quote, âDonât go top speed into uncertainty,â when discussing his recent plant expansion.

Electric cars are a great example of this (GM, Ford, Toyota, Honda, etc.). Planning for this is daunting yet crucial to get it right for their success.

For consumers even, think about this: When you own a gas-powered vehicle you have a high level of confidence because the infrastructure and service model is clear, consistent, and reliable. When we move into electric vehicles, consumers have to plan and need to have a strategy or they will be stranded. My brother-in-law experienced this recently on a trip with his new Tesla driving from Florida to Maine.

Our business owners have a similar situation: their business certainty isnât what it was and now it is time to stop and say, âI HAVE TIME to slow down and think about the landscape in front of me." Warren Buffett says, âIn the business world, the rearview mirror is always clearer than the windshield.â

Scenario planning. Prepare for possibilities and probabilities. Learn to shrink the gap between success and failure and minimize riskânot eliminate it. SBAâ50% fail in the first five years. The primary reason is lack of financial planning and management.

Be able to weather economic ups and downsâinvest in growth and secure capital are at risk. The National Center for Middle Market found there is a 32% decline in growth compared to those with a plan. Sustained success requires rigor and discipline around planning strategically.

Consider the following as you work towards this: understand drivers of costs, growth, and performance, know mission/behaviors/consequences (right jobs/right roles/right people/right time), and assess the current playing field. Who is changing the landscape? What are we doing? What are we worried about? What are the big movers? How do we drive consumption and repeat business?

Mike Thorne is a former CEO and current Vistage Chair. He leads and facilitates a group of trusted advisor entrepreneurs and a CEO peer group in New Hampshire and Maine.

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CEOs & Business Sustainability: How Lack Of …

Navigating The Privilege Of Focus: Strategies For Breakthrough Results

Last week, I had the opportunity to interview Steve Smith, Executive Chairman for Steward Tubular. We explored how, in today's fast-paced business world, the ability to focus is a powerful asset. It's the key that unlocks innovation, productivity, and strategic thinking.

However, this privilege of focus is not evenly distributed. Many factors, including socioeconomic status, technological distractions, and mental health, influence our capacity to concentrate. In this article, we will explore how the privilege of focus impacts breakthroughs in the business environment.

The Privilege Of Focus: A Brief Overview

The privilege of focus is the advantage some individuals or organizations have in maintaining sustained attention and concentration on strategic goals. It goes beyond personal discipline and extends to the circumstances and resources that facilitate focus. To delve deeper into this concept, we interviewed Steve, an expert in business performance and breakthrough strategies.

Insights From Steve Smith, Executive Chairman For Steward Tubular: The Power Of Business Breakthroughs

Business goals, success, workplace, breakthrough concept

1. Typical Approach to Overcoming Challenges: Steve observed that many businesses today tend to tackle challenges with a short-term perspective. However, he emphasized that a more effective approach involves aligning efforts with long-term strategic goals and cultivating a culture of continuous improvement.

2. Urgency in the Business World: The prevalent perception that everything must be urgent in the business world was challenged by Steve. He stressed the importance of prioritization and allocating time and resources to high-impact projects that contribute to long-term strategic success.

3. Investment of Time by Executives: Successful business executives invest their time in strategic planning, innovation, and creating a culture of learning. Steve highlighted that focusing solely on day-to-day operations can hinder long-term growth.

4. Shifting from Short-Term to Long-Term Focus: Executives can shift their thinking from a short-term focus to a longer-term one by defining clear, bold strategic objectives and communicating the importance of these goals to the entire organization. It requires a commitment to the vision and persistence in the face of challenges.

5. Breakthroughs vs. Continuous Improvement: Steve emphasized that while continuous improvement focuses on incremental changes, breakthroughs involve transformative, game-changing innovations. Both approaches have their place, but breakthroughs have the potential to reshape industries.

6. Realistic Breakthrough Goals: According to Steve, breakthrough goals should be ambitious and bold. Itâs true that unrealistic goals can lead to frustration, while attainable ones can motivate teams. However, breakthrough goals should reach for the stars, serving as inspirational beacons of performance excellence.

7. Pursuing Breakthrough Results: To pursue breakthrough results, organizations must align their culture, resources, and processes with the overarching strategic vision. It requires a commitment to change and adaptability.

8. Strategy for the Entire Team: Strategy should not be the sole responsibility of the executive team. Steve emphasized the importance of involving all levels of the organization in strategy deployment through the practice of catchball to ensure alignment and engagement.

9. Balanced Scorecard and Breakthroughs: The Balanced Scorecard framework plays a crucial role in strategy deployment and tracking progress toward breakthrough goals. It provides a structured approach to measuring and managing performance.

10. Impact on Company Culture: Pursuing breakthroughs and moonshots can positively impact company culture by fostering innovation, risk-taking, and a growth mindset. It encourages employees to think beyond the status quo.

11. One-and-Done vs. Ongoing Journey: Breakthroughs are not a one-time event; they represent an ongoing journey of innovation and improvement. Organizations must continually adapt to changing market conditions and opportunities or become irrelevant.

12. Additional Insights: Steve concluded by highlighting the importance of leadership commitment, resilience, and adaptability in the pursuit of breakthroughs. He encouraged organizations to embrace change and prioritize long-term strategic thinking.

Bridging The Gap

Creativity, imagination, innovation, ideas, invention, inspiration, breakthrough concept

Understanding the privilege of focus and its role in achieving business breakthroughs is essential for creating a more equitable and innovative business landscape. While not everyone has the same level of focus privilege, organizations can take steps to level the playing field.

By embracing strategic thinking, fostering a culture of innovation, and committing to long-term strategic goals, businesses can harness the power of focus to drive transformative change. The journey toward breakthroughs is ongoing, and success is within reach for those willing to be bold and invest in the future.

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Navigating The Privilege Of Focus: Strategies For …

Navigating Strategic Roadmaps In Business

Roadmaps are beautiful. Not just because they are aesthetically pleasing but because of what they represent. Roadmaps clearly show what you want to achieve and how you will get there. You can create excitement for a big idea and package it in a way that others can understand. But a roadmap is still just a visualization. You need to have a vision and strategy behind the plan.

Vision, Strategy, And Roadmapping

Colleagues work on a roadmap project together

You need to understand the purpose of each to build something lasting deeply. All three are clearly defined on successful product and project teams.

A Simple Analogy â Making a Case for All Three

Think of a skyscraper.

1. Vision is the initial thought about what kind of place it will be and why it will matter.

Vision is your view of the future.

2. Strategy is the blueprint for the foundation and framing.

Explains the approach that youâll take to realize that future state.

3. The roadmap builds upon the blueprint with a detailed plan for erecting a fully functioning structure.

The roadmap is the more tactical plan for what you will do to get there (and when you arrive), informed by the vision and strategy.

Build Your Strategic Roadmap!

No matter where you work or how your organization approaches strategic planning, it is essential to have a firm grasp on each term and what it is not. Here is a helpful way to think about vision, strategy, and roadmapping.

Vision

Vision is about the future and, hopefully, a better world. It is the essence of what you hope to achieve and forms the beginning of your strategy. For example, our vision at the National Football League was to deliver a great fan experience.

Vision is not a statement that you define once and forget about it. Vision is a living and breathing thing. And it should not be overly complex or challenging to parseâeveryone in the company needs to know and deeply understand it.

Strategy

Strategy defines the direction you will take to achieve your vision. The plan aligns the entire organization around what you want to accomplish and guides how to turn the idea into reality. It lays out your goals and the key strategic initiatives to be successful.

Strategy is not the tactical work you will do. But it is not in the background either; it informs every decision about which activities to invest in. Strategy is cross functional for significant efforts. Every team needs to understand how their work is related to their part in achieving critical objectives.

Strategic Roadmaps

A strategy roadmap is a tool that helps you visualize your strategic plan. Strategic roadmaps capture activities you will complete within a given time frame and communicate upcoming work in one view. You can use a roadmap to drive conversations. It can guide prioritizing work, allocating resources, and tracking dependencies.

A roadmap is not static. You can adjust as plans change, show progress as you complete work, and create tailored views for different audiences. A roadmap should be exciting. It is a visual guide that defines the work required for the team to be its best.

Keep a Clear Vision

A vision statement provides much value, even just a few sentences. Not only does it outline the companyâs desired outcome, but it can communicate intentions and hopes for the future. The best part is that a vision statement changes with your organization. When a vision is reached or updated, itâs time to create a new vision statement. This encourages everyone toward more meaningful goals and opens your company to more possibilities.

5 Ways To Vastly Improve Strategic Visioning In Leadership

Coworkers talk strategy during a business meeting

Step 1: Clarify Your Purpose

Why does your organization/unit/function exist? What need must be met? What opportunities can be addressed?

Be clear about the purpose and continually use this purpose to center and re-center your efforts while guiding your constituents in seeing the long-term vision you are creating.

Choose a focus: In most cases, your vision and strategy should target those areas that define the purpose of your organization and make it valuable. What is most important? What will distinguish you from the competition? Who are the customers, and how do you bring them value?
Stay true to your core values: What is the heart and soul of your company, organization, or department? While change is the constant of any forward-looking strategy, many companies fail because they have strayed too far from what has made them successful.

Step 2: Become the King of Information

Stay constantly informed and up to date about your industry and competitors, as well as whatâs happening right within your company.

Become a voracious consumer of knowledge: Read broadly in your technical or business literature and the more general press. Be aware of what is happening in your industry and the more significant business, social, and political environments.
Seek information from everyone: Often, you will get the most valuable information from those who are interacting most closely with your direct customers.

Step 3: Embrace an Innovative Mindset

Innovative organizations are usually more profitable, retain higher caliber employees, and lead by example.

Playing devilâs advocate: Ask probing questions, challenge the status quo, encourage others to be creative and stretch themselves, try new things, and take risks.
Thinking differently: There are different types of creative thinking. Creativity only sometimes means producing a new concept or idea. On the contrary, most productive creativity occurs when someone looks at an old solution slightly differently to find a better way.

Step 4: Translate Your Ideas Into Specific Actions

The best ideas are worthless unless they are acted upon effectively.

Make it simple: Many strategic initiatives fail due to the complexity of the vision. What are the core things that you want to accomplish? How can you make them clear and actionable?

Step 5: Communicate Effectively

The best vision and strategy can only succeed if communicated well.

Determine your audience: Who needs to know?
One message does not fit all: Create different messages for different audiences.
Make it real: Communicating your strategy via a story about people or a situation they understand can be much more understandable and memorable.
Communicate â over and over: Keep your vision and strategy alive through continuous updates to everyone involved.

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