Strategic planning is dead. This is why we need to revive it

Repeating the same action over and over expecting a different outcome– that’s the definition of insanity. Still, when it comes to strategic planning many companies simply open last year’s slide deck, change the date, and proceed as if the formulaic exercise will have a transformative effect on the future direction of the business.

This mechanical approach to strategic planning underscores a deeper issue: we’re not being honest about the process. We’re stuck in the same old patterns, and it’s time to confront this problem head-on.

For something so important to an organization’s well-being, the planning process has become performative; an exercise full of wishes and well-intentioned goals that are rarely achieved:

• 48% of all organizations fail to meet at least half of their strategic targets. 
• 61% of C-level executives acknowledge their firms struggle to bridge the gap between strategy formulation and day-to-day implementation.
• 47% of team members don’t know how their leadership is tracking the strategy execution. 

Given the hundreds (and sometimes thousands) of hours that are spent annually, this lack of impact in strategic planning is detrimental. It leads to strategic plans that are outdated before they’re even finalized, disconnected from the real challenges and opportunities the organization faces.

This tired practice needs to be redesigned as one of the most important brainstorming and problem-solving activities we do in a year. The problem is we aren’t giving ourselves the time to think, and therefore when we have time to do it, we don’t know how.

From years of helping organizations simplify and rethink their approach to work, we’ve found the following practices to reimagine strategic planning to have an incredible impact and breathe new life into strategic practices.

First, kill your company

Good strategic planning means taking a hard look at what’s working and what’s not. Start by giving your team permission to really look at what needs improving by giving them an out-of-company experience. Ask them to imagine that they are your number-one competitor. Then, analyze your business as if you were the competition, attacking weaknesses and trying to make your company, product, or service irrelevant. This is your moment to look at things with ruthless honesty—your sales approach, gaps in marketing, cumbersome operations: Where are you vulnerable to attack?

By thinking like your competition, you can proactively identify your weaknesses and potential threats proactively and fix them. This approach demands honesty about your vulnerabilities and offers a fresh, outside-in perspective on your business.

Commit to stopping things

When building a plan, it’s easy to get overloaded. Keep your strategy powerful but realistic by asking teams to include a list of things they’ll commit to stop doing next year to achieve their goals. This accomplishes two things: It makes teams think through the tasks, projects, and processes getting in the way of meeting their goals; Second, getting buy-in on stopping these practices going forward eliminates future excuses for why goals might not be met.

Build in time for strategic thinking

The bigger issue is that we aren’t giving ourselves the time to think strategically. The frenetic pace of business leaves little room for deep reflection and meaningful planning. According to research from Bridges Business Consultancy, 48% of leaders spend less than one day per month discussing strategy.

How do we make strategic thinking a work practice rather than a time-sucking annual event? Invest in strategic planning by using the One-Hour Approach, consistently setting aside one hour of dedicated time, according to your role at work:

• Executives should dedicate one hour per day or 12% of their week to focus on high-level goals and direction.
• Team leaders should aim for one hour per week, which is only 3% of their time, to translate goals into actionable plans.
• Individual contributors should dedicate one hour per month or 1% of their time to stay informed and engaged.

Regular strategic touchpoints elevate us out of continually being in tactical mode and ensure everyone is on track with long-term goals. It also helps address potential issues early and proactively keeps your competitive edge. This not only saves time during annual strategic planning but also keeps your strategy relevant, and responsive to changes in the market.

Strategic planning has the potential to be one of the activities that has the most impact on an organization. However, this potential is often squandered due to a lack of genuine engagement and an overreliance on outdated methods. By acknowledging the shortcomings of our current approach and committing to a more dynamic and thoughtful process, we can transform strategic planning from a tired ritual into a powerful driver of innovation and growth.