Over the past month, some great strategy news has surfaced. I picked my personal favourites to share. These articles, videos and blogs share ideas that I believe are important to a strong ongoing strategic plan. Regardless of your industry or whether your organization is new or established, a good strategy is crucial.
In this video, HBR discusses how your company can find opportunities for growth without spreading itself too thin: “Looking for opportunities at the edge of your strategy lets you use what you already know to expand your business and give customers what they want”.
Instead of reacting to what is happening today, focus on possibilities of the future. Unfortunately, a lot of organizations, including their strategy teams, are stuck in older models of planning. It’s important to have long term plans, yet be innovative, flexible and agile in today’s fast changing markets: “We need to adopt new models of strategy development, ones that are better equipped to deal with the ambiguities of today and the uncertainties of tomorrow.”
An example of a strategy that considers possible effects of the future is scenario planning.
From small municipalities to the national government, strategic planning is an important process in moving forward. This blog discusses why strategic planning is crucial for national security. In this blog, both the pitfalls and highlights of government strategy are discussed. “Our leaders would be able to make better decisions in such crises if their decision-making was informed by rigorous planning that evaluated the pros and cons of different policy options”
In a recent poll of 1000 non-profits, half of the respondents stated that their organization doesn’t have a strategic plan. However, strategic plans are a crucial part of a business - especially a non-profit organization. “Strategic plans are often the foundation for how a nonprofit performs. Those with a written strategic plan tend to hold their leadership accountable for performance. They are 50% more likely to have a formal process for measuring leadership effectiveness across the organization, and to have their CEOs undergo an annual performance review.”
India has a fast growing start-up and tech scene. This year, there will be a hackathon in Rashtrapati Bhavan that will offer a variety of different topics, including strategic planning. Karl Mehta, founder of EdCast and code for India says "It creates a platform for ideation and entrepreneurship.”
Reviewing your organization's strategy?
Make sure to include your team early on in the process!
