Quote:
“No amount of strategizing or strategic planning will compensate for the absence of a clear and widespread understanding of the ends sought.” Fred Nickols
A friend and colleague of mine sent this quote to me this morning. I think it’s a great reminder. In the world of strategic planning, it’s too easy to get lost in the details of the strategy, metrics and processes. At times I’ve found it quite useful to zerobase your thinking and come back to the most fundamental questions when assessing the current state of a client. Often times, when they’re not getting the results they desire, it comes down to something simple.
Forget about the methodologies for a minute, and ask some simple questions:
What is the direction of your company?
What outcomes is your team working toward creating?
How do you know everyone understands this the same way?
How are you going to make that happen?
How does your job contribute to making that happen?
I started asking some of these questions with one of my clients this year and we learned that the direction wasn’t that clear all the way up the chain. Once we recognized the gap, we were able to correct the situation. The results were a significant revitalization in the team and in the strategy.
This often results in increased energy behind and commitment to the plan, and that’s what it’s all about.