We were recently in a meeting with a potential client who sees the value of strategic planning and wants to get started but who said to us, "You need to understand that my board has no appetite for strategic planning." They want the plan, but they don't want to do the planning.
Our experience tells us that the worst enemy of a strategic planning process is the last strategic planning process. Too often they take too much time or waste time, and there is nothing more valuable to us today than our time.
At each step in the planning process, think carefully about who really needs to be engaged in this work ("engagement" usually translates to "ownership"). Ask yourself, "Who do we REALLY need around the table during this next step in the process?" and "How can they help us move this planning process forward?" If you are rigorous about this, you'll find that those who do join you at the table will find the work to be meaningful and that they'll share a sense of ownership and responsibility for the plan. If your board doesn't have an appetite for planning, take a look at the Strategic Planning page of the Starboard web site or at some of our other blog postings for suggestions about ways in which we can get your board on board.