What are the steps in strategic planning?

Strategic planning demands a fundamentally different mindset than day-to-day management. While managers excel at solving immediate problems through linear thinking, effective strategic planning requires disrupting these familiar patterns to ignite strategic thinking. 

Let's explore the essential steps that make this transformation possible.

Understanding the Strategic Planning Framework 

Before diving into the steps, it's crucial to understand why strategic planning differs from typical management approaches. Management thinking follows a linear path: identify problems, analyze data, and implement solutions. Strategic planning intentionally breaks this pattern to enable breakthrough thinking.

The Three Essential Steps to Strategic Planning:

1.  Start with a comprehensive analysis of WHERE YOU ARE NOW: Your Strategic Assessment. The first step requires a comprehensive analysis that goes beyond typical performance metrics:

• Examine the current market position from multiple angles

• Challenge assumptions about strengths and weaknesses

• Identify broader market forces and emerging trends

• Gather diverse stakeholder perspectives

• Map competitive landscape evolution

• Evaluate potential disruptive threats
  

2.  Then, leave today behind and leap to the future (usually 5 – 8 - 10 years out) and define WHERE YOU WANT TO BE in that future period. This is your Vision and Future Business Model.

• Project years into the future

• Define your ideal market position

• Envision your transformed business model

• Set ambitious yet achievable goals

• Create compelling success metrics

• Challenge current operational constraints
  

3.  After defining the gap, you can close it with HOW TO GET THERE: Your Strategic Direction or high-level Strategy.

• Identify major transformation milestones
• Design breakthrough strategies
• Allocate resources differently
• Create new accountability structures
• Plan for systematic change
  

By designing a non-linear (disrupted) process, you work to open up new thinking.

Following these three steps helps organizations break free from incremental thinking, generate innovative solutions, build alignment around transformation, and create momentum for significant change that provides the opportunity to stay ahead of market evolutions.

Common Pitfalls to Avoid

When following these steps, watch out for:

• Rushing to solutions before completing the assessment (seeking a solution too quickly)
• Making only incremental projections in vision development (seeing success only through the lens of today's performance metrics)
• Creating overly detailed plans too early (seeking action before integration of multiple ideas)
• Failing to challenge current assumptions (playing it too safe or too nice)
• Avoiding necessary disruption (fear of the unknown during the strategic planning process)

Implementation Tips

To maximize the effectiveness of these steps:

• Involve diverse perspectives in each phase (using different techniques to find the gaps in your strategic thinking)
• Allow adequate time for strategic thinking (strategic planning is the most important effort management engages in, don't give it less than it deserves)
• Document insights and decisions (this process is different than management processes; use documentation to keep you on track and support following a different approach)
• Maintain focus on transformation (look for the AND rather than the either/or; brilliance is often found in the AND)
• Embrace productive tension (don't be afraid to disagree - hashing it out respectfully often results in deeper agreements)

Success Indicators

You'll know you're effectively executing these steps when:

• New possibilities emerge naturally 
• Team members think beyond current constraints
• Excitement builds around your future vision
• Strategic discussions become more profound
• Innovation increases across the organization

Remember: Strategic planning isn't just about creating a plan - it's about transforming how your organization thinks about and shapes its future. By following these three essential steps and embracing the required mindset shifts, you can develop truly transformative strategies that position your organization for long-term success.

Ready to Transform Your Strategic Planning?

Contact us to learn how these three steps can help your organization break free from incremental thinking and create an epic strategic vision for your future.