Are Strategic Plans Futile ?

With market place changes happening at lightning speed, some challenge the relevancy of a long term Strategic Plan.   According to Jason Fried in 37signals’ book Rework, "What you do is what matters, not what you think or say or plan”.  That’s quite a fascinating assertion. 

But, Strategic Plans do play an important part in setting up a visionary focus for the company.  Complaints about being outdated or being words and not deeds, ignores the need for validating what direction to go into. If you don’t know where you are going, you will get there fast.  
 
An article by Michael Allison in Stanford Innovation Social Review titled ”Strategy Needs a Plan”  emphasizes that the strategic plan is far from dead—it’s alive and adapting.  The problem doesn’t lie with the output, it lies with how we keep it current, relevant and pursue effective implementation.

Michael introduces three faulty assertions contributing to the incorrect assumption that Strategic Planning is dead:

• Strategic plans are static and preclude adaptive leadership.
• Strategic plans are futile because the future is impossible to predict.
• Strategic plans are irrelevant because some strategic plans have been seen to sit on shelves “gathering dust.”
  

Note that all these issues can be addressed:

1. Update Strategic Plans more frequently. Consider every 6 months or for extremely volatile marketplaces, 3 months.
   
2. Acknowledge that the Strategic Plan is not a vehicle to 100% predict the future, but rather to set a direction for the organization to navigate. Plan for being wrong but setup processes to adjust the path more quickly.
   
3. Invest in the time to make the Strategic Plan more of a living document than a static snapshot that sits on the coffee table for a year. 
   

 
Have a closer, more regular, business relationship with your organization’s Strategic Plan.
 

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