You Got Beat. Strategies can fail because they were beaten – beaten by competitors, beaten my changing market conditions, or beaten because they focused on the wrong objectives.
Competition is everywhere. So, if your strategy fails because you were outgunned by companies with bigger budgets or outmaneuvered by competitors who were faster or more agile, you can learn from this set back. You cannot feel too bad about this failure; after all it is a competition. Adjust your strategy and get back into the game. However, if you were beaten because you failed to incorporate changing market conditions, or you were focused on the wrong objectives, you need to take a hard look at your strategic planning process because it failed you.
Building a plan to achieve the wrong objectives often happens when the planning process is too focused on solving today’s problems and not tomorrow’s. This is especially prevalent in cultures that focus on responding to customers’ demands or competitive pressures. Strategic planning is about crafting the plan to achieve your long-range vision. Your customers and competitors may be totally different in the future state defined by your vision than they are today. So, your strategy needs to focus on achieving the goals you believe will move you towards that vision. For this reason, avoid the trap of letting the voices of your current customers dominate the discussions in the creation phase of the strategic planning process. Instead, remember that addressing a reasonable and appropriate customer demand or making a maneuver to stay competitive are operational priorities. While they should be part of the strategic assessment phase of your strategic planning effort, it would be short-sighted to think of focusing on them as your strategy for the future.
So, if charting a new strategic direction is so fraught with the possibility of failure, should you even try?
Yes, absolutely because not choosing to do so could eventually lead to the demise of your organization. My company has been assisting clients in the strategic planning process for more than 20 years so we have been through a lot, including two significant economic disruptions – the dotcom boom and bust in the late 1990s and the great recession that started in 2008. During both significant changes in market conditions, we saw our clients take a pause in their progress, but not fail. In fact, we were in a session finalizing a strategic plan in 2008, the day the stock markets were taking their biggest dip, and I thought, “This plan is toast.” To my great delight, we returned for a plan review the following year to find they had deferred two goals until the market recovered but surpassed all other strategic objectives. The depth of strategic thinking and the engagement and commitment unleashed during the process gave the leadership and management structure the tools they needed to quickly adjust their plans and keep moving ahead while others around them were still picking up the pieces from the change in their markets.
Strategies can take time to bear fruit. Even in today’s shortening life cycles, it takes time to bring a new idea to market. If you focus on responding to today’s customer or competitor demands when you start your planning, it is highly probable that those demands will have shifted by the time you bring your solution to market and your strategies will fail. If you are part of, or in the position to lead the strategic development process for your organization, understanding what can go wrong can be just as important as understanding the process itself.
Every organization needs a story to carry them to the next part of their journey. Learn how to turn your strategic plan into and epic story.
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1:00 - 5:00 pm
Over 70% of Executives Surveyed Agree: Many Strategic Planning Efforts Lack Systematic Approach Tips for Enhancing Your Strategic Planning Process
Executives expressed frustration with their current strategic planning process. Issues include:
Steve Rutan and Denise Harrison have put together an afternoon workshop that will provide the tools you need to address these concerns. They have worked with hundreds of executives to develop a systematic approach that will enable your team to make better decisions during strategic planning. Steve and Denise will walk you through exercises for prioritizing your lists and steps that will reset and reinvigorate your process. This will be a hands-on workshop that will enable you to think about your business as you use the tools that are being presented. If you are ready for a Strategic Planning tune-up, select this workshop in your registration form. The additional fee of $695 will be added to your total.
2:00 - 5:00 pm
Female leaders face the same issues all leaders do, but they often face additional challenges too. In this peer session, we will facilitate a discussion of best practices and how to overcome common barriers to help women leaders be more effective within and outside their organizations.
Limited space available.
10:30 - 5:00 pm
General’s Retreat at Hermitage Golf Course
Sponsored by UBS
General’s Retreat, built in 1986 with architect Gary Roger Baird, has been voted the “Best Golf Course in Nashville” and is a “must play” when visiting the Nashville, Tennessee area. With the beautiful setting along the Cumberland River, golfers of all capabilities will thoroughly enjoy the golf, scenery and hospitality.
The golf outing fee includes transportation to and from the hotel, greens/cart fees, use of practice facilities, and boxed lunch. The bus will leave the hotel at 10:30 am for a noon shotgun start and return to the hotel after the cocktail reception following the completion of the round.
