No Clear Plan!
No Clear Plan!
I did some work with an organisation who were pulling together a new leadership team and as part of that, they were doing some great work around team makeup and team dynamics. They were open-minded and very eager to learn how they could function better as a team so they could continue to grow the company the way they wanted too. They had realised that they were operating in ‘silos’ and this wasn’t what was going to get them where they wanted to be. They realised that the way they wanted the rest of the organisation to work, was not how they were working as a team themselves. They are an amazing business that has a point of difference in their industry that gives them an edge.
As we were going through the deep dive on them as a team and looking at how they play their collective ‘inner game’ (strengths, derailers or blind spots, motives values and preferences), it became clear that they didn’t really have clarity on the growth strategy for the future (the ‘outer game’). Up until this point, the business had grown organically in an intentional way. The size of the business meant it was no longer possible to do things the way they had, they now needed to do things a little differently, so things were more scalable. The current way of doing things was not going to allow them to continue the growth trajectory they were on. So, through deep diving on the team, we then needed to head in the direction of Strategy. What this business needed was clarity and simplicity so they could continue to do what they are so good at. What was interesting was we could see how a lack of a clear and shared strategy was starting to have an impact on the results, people and culture of the business.
It can be hard to feel like you’re winning when you feel ‘time-poor’ and constantly reacting to things. What we want to move toward, is regaining some clarity on where we are heading, focus in on the things that matter and take consistent action so we are achieving the results that will shift the dial now.
In an article by Graham Kenny called “Strategic Plans Are Less Important than Strategic Planning”, Kenny talks about the value of the strategic planning process, having the right people in the room working through the various components of the process. It’s often the journey that provides the real value and the plan itself captures the thinking and the agreed goals so there is a reference point to review and to guide execution.
Have you ever experienced being in thick fog where you can’t see two feet in front of you and then the fog clears and all of a sudden you can see the whole landscape ahead? Creating a clear strategy can be like that, like stepping out of the fog.
Now is the perfect time to be thinking about your strategic planning process – especially if you are ready to make 2021 a better, more intentional year than 2020. It was General George Casey (an accomplished leader and an authority on strategic leadership) who said “clarity and simplicity are the antidotes to complexity and uncertainty”.
If you currently feel like your strategic planning process or the execution of your strategy is not quite where you want it to be, then let’s chat. After all, strategy should be about impact, engagement, momentum and achieving results.
Lead with Impact!