I hate strategic planning. That seems hypocritical coming from someone who works with companies on strategic plans as well as someone who does his own planning. The reasons for this deep-seated resentment are many: Plans are outdated before the ink is dry. I’m addicted to the adrenaline of the urgent. The plan never makes it past the production floor. Not enough hands on the steering wheel driving the plan. It’s exhausting. I could go on, but you see where I am going here.
Am I saying “don’t plan”? Of course not, but we can think about it differently. Let’s start with what strategic planning is and what it’s not. My definition of strategic planning: “An ongoing, regular, robust conversation about who we are, where we are going, why we are going there, and how we are going to get there.” Rather than trying to write a plan, try engineering regular and ongoing strategic conversations with yourself and others.