Strategic Planning – Overview

Here is what we will be looking at over the next several posts. I am not sure how many posts it will take to cover what I want to discuss. It might take some time to get all of my ideas down.

The overall process of discussing this will take into account the five steps below. I think these are the basic steps in creating a Strategic Plan. There may be more or there may be less. Others may extend and expand on these or change them all together. Looking back on the many times I have lead or been involved with the SP process, it really boils down to these.

Step One: Look to the Past – where have we been – what got us here – what has worked – what has failed.

Step Two: Look at Now – what are we doing right – what is working – what needs to be addressed.

Step Three: Look Toward the Future – what could we do – where might we go

Step Four: Define your Goals – what can we rationally expect to achieve

Step Five: Identify Initiatives/Actions – how are we going to do it

These are the processes that most of us go through with many things in life. I will unpack each of these as we move forward.