The current operating environment is seeing the rate and pace of change accelerate.  Customer choices, fueled by emerging technology is forcing businesses to create new ways of connecting with customers, engaging and retaining employees and sourcing materials.  Where/what is the plan for dealing with a constant and unending flow of change impacting businesses of all sizes and the economy in general?   

The call for a plan is understandable.  However, in a highly fluid situation where new data, facts and information are being surfaced on an almost daily basis, how do we plan for what is next?

When facing a dynamic, rapidly changing operating environment, it could be argued that “creating a plan” is as difficult as it is useless.  Rather, the process of planning may be the most effective way to gain traction.

In a Harvard Business Review article “The Big Lie of Strategic Planning” former Dean of the Rotman Business School Roger L. Martin makes the case that “fear and discomfort are an essential part of strategy making”.  He argues that while attempting to make sense of the operating environment, both inside and outside the organization, leadership teams organize themselves around a collection of assumptions that tend to look a lot like what our most recent experience tells us.  Grounding planning assumptions in what we know now is comforting and understandable.  If unchallenged, these very same assumptions can be a seriously flawed foundation upon which to build a plan.  The future rarely looks like the past; even the most recent past.

Creating a robust planning process that engages all aspects of an organization’s scanning capabilities in real time is essential to gaining focus and organizational alignment toward a common goal.  Tactical execution (and most plans fail for lack of effective execution) is organized around what we call “the 90-day world”.  This is where specific assignments, expected results and individual responsibilities are articulated in specific terms.  These 90-day tactics are monitored against a predetermined standard and because they are reviewed and evaluated quarterly, they may be modified, adjusted, and re-aligned to fit the current circumstance and as new facts emerge. 

The result is a plan that is fast, flexible, fluid, focused and fact-based.  The strength of rigorous prioritization ensures that managers are working on those items (and only those items) which will have the most significant impact on moving the enterprise forward toward the desired aim. 

Creating an effective strategy and operating plan is not about a once-a-year ceremonial exercise with a static outcome:  the plan.  Rather, seeing the planning process as a dynamic, continuous organizational competency sets high performers apart, especially during times of fast-paced change.  Which just may describe our operating environment for the foreseeable future.

For more information including a sample planning agenda and suggested ground rules, contact me at joe@ajstrategy.com