“A goal without a plan is just a wish,” wrote Antoine de Saint-Exupery, and to paraphrase many a successful leader, wishing is not a strategy. The essential elements of strategic planning are the same as they were pre-pandemic. To guide your work, you need clarity around mission, vision, goals and objectives. But the world has changed, and at least until the dust settles, how we plan needs to change too.
The uncertainties of the foreseeable future necessitate a streamlined planning process and a shortened timeline. Now more than ever, you need to be laser-focused, proactive and strategic.
To that end, we are supporting clients through planning processes that are phased to focus on what’s most crucial, to build on what’s knowable and to allow for the timely consideration of emerging issues.
As ever, every organization is unique and there’s no one-size-fits all approach to planning. For some, it’s appropriate to ask (and possible to answer), “What does success look like in six months?” Others are defining success and planning one month at a time. Regardless, in this new world order, planning is best accomplished incrementally with utmost efficiency.
So we’re working with clients to develop short-term plans in short order that are long on value.
The first phase of our new streamlined process can be completed in days or at most a few weeks, including in all cases: