Reflections on a Problem with Strategic Planning and Outcomes
Certitude, do-or-die prescriptions, and hell or high water.
There is a problem with strategic planning and how we think about results and outcomes.
Mostly the problem is us.
But before we go there, let’s pause for a moment.
The Pause: Planning and outcomes are important
In general we believe that it is a mark of wise and responsible leadership and a robust and smart organization to have an evidence-based and mission and values driven plan with a focus on meaningful results and outcomes.
This is good, right? Right.
I championed this in my public sector management roles and as the executive director of a non-profit. I also take great pleasure in my work supporting organizations and leaders with their strategic planning and oversight discussions and I delight in the process and the results. I’m good at this work because I believe it to be that important to the success of organizations and the impact they want to have.*
Going There: The problem is us
Now that I’ve established my belief that strategic planning and outcomes are important, we will go to my belief that we are undermining the success of organizations by clinging to an outdated idea of these plans and outcomes.
Perhaps this is due in part to our human nature and our need to feel secure, or our early childhood training in following the rules, or just that we are collectively feeling tired and overworked. But here we are clinging to an out-of-date idea that strategic planning is about certitude, the plan or framework is a do-or-die prescription, and that we must focus on achieving those specific results or outcomes come hell or high water, (otherwise known as stretch goals, performance reviews, and job security).
While we need to strategically look towards a future and map out how to get there and we need to measure and assess our efforts and impact, we also need to let go.
A quick story (I promise)
So a quick story (true, but changed up to be kind). A CEO of an award-winning organization had done what they thought was right in moving forward with a new space design that would make their facility, as stated in their strategic plan, more welcoming for newcomers and Indigenous peoples. The announcement of the new space was met with concern and frustration from community partners, local Indigenous organizations, and a significant funder who all wondered why this change was done without community input or involvement. The answer from the CEO was because it was in the strategic plan, time was running out, and the board was committed to the organization quickly making this change.
Oh oh. This has been and can be any of us as we race along clinging to our plans and our stated outcomes as though they drive us, rather than us driving them.
Going There: The solution is us
Our desire to cling to the plan and the hoped for results and outcomes can come at the cost of the present moment and how we do our work. Yet, those very same results and outcomes, particularly those that are about people and people-centred systems, need us to be in the present moment and attentive to our values and ethics.
When we trade the present moment for a future result or outcome, we can find ourselves prioritizing expediency and efficiency over how we want to do our work. We may find ourselves saying things like, “next time I’ll do it differently”, “next time I’ll work on building trust and relationships”, “next time I’ll slow down and listen” – you get my drift.
And importantly, by clinging to an already prescribed result or outcome, we may miss the opportunity for something to evolve and be better in ways that we could not have imagined in the initial strategic planning. Better because we focused on the present moment of building trust, relationships, creativity, and possibilities.
I’m not saying to throw the planning and hoped for outcomes out with the bathwater. I’m just pointing out that if we cling to what we thought in the past about the future, we may lose sight of what matters now. What matters now is how we do our work. And how we do our work shapes the future.
What do you think?
The following prompts aren’t intended for quick or correct answers. There are no grades or shiny gold stars. It is just each of us doing our best, learning, and doing better.
When have your values or ethics been put to the test by the pressures of expediency, efficiency, or hell or high water? How did that feel? What did you do?
How do you want to do your work, now, like right now in the present moment?
How might doing your work this way contribute to the success of your strategic plan and the impact of your organization, even if the result or outcome is different than what was hoped for in the past?
How might clinging to a result or outcome hoped for in the past get in the way of how you want to do your work now?
How might clinging to a result or outcome hoped for in the past come at the cost of something different or better?
How might strategic planning and implementation be more about ongoing strategic activation and choices in the present moment?
How do you want to work today to shape tomorrow?
You’ve got this and I’m here for you.
Babs
p.s. You can find out more about me and my work as a coach and a facilitator at the Courageous Leaders Project.
Photo by Trac Vu on Unsplash. Note that the squirrel is very cutely clinging to the branch. Sometimes clinging is an understandable option.
*Evidence-based and mission and values driven plans with a focus on meaningful results and outcomes are also excellent tools for transparency and accountability - but we’ll leave that for another time.
In “Reflections” I encourage us to take time to generously and kindly contemplate how we are showing up and to compassionately cultivate and nurture our growth. Reflect your way and use what is available and feels good to you. Get out the coloured markers, sing or dance, go outside and take in the sky, breathe deep, and know that you are not alone as a courageous leader.