Russell McGuire

While large corporations often have a year-long strategy development process, at small organizations, the core of strategic planning can be completed in a few days and a complete strategic plan can be completed within a month.

It’s important to note that whether at a small organization or a large and complex corporation, the process will always be at least as important as the product. Surprises happen (did someone say Covid?). A rich and robust process will provide the framework to make the hard decisions as easy as they can be, even when that means that specific plans must change.

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The strategy development tools that I talk about at ClearPurpose tend to be qualitative in nature rather than quantitative. In other words, these tools deal with qualities that are difficult to measure using precise numbers. That makes many business decision makers uncomfortable.

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Strategic projects can begin either from an outside-in perspective or from an inside-out perspective. Either starting approach is perfectly valid, but eventually, the complementary perspective must also be considered.

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In my article on Friday, I mentioned white space opportunities. I thought it might be helpful to provide an example to give a sense for how to think about the challenges in pursuing these types of opportunities.

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Yesterday I made the claim that no matter the situation, successful strategic planning efforts often follow a similar five-step process:

1. Assess the Current Situation
2. Determine Strategic Pillars
3. Develop Specific Plans
4. Ensure Affordability and Rationalize
5. Launch

That doesn’t mean that all strategic planning efforts are the same.

Today I want to focus on one really important dimension of difference: is this an ongoing strategic planning process, or is it a one-time project?

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Whether documented by research staff in excruciating detail over weeks, or collaboratively developed in “real-time” by the hands-on leaders of the organization, having a realistic perspective is a critical starting point for developing any strategic plan!

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Over the past few months, we’ve looked at many different aspects of strategy — what it is; what it isn’t; what are different types of strategies at big companies and at startups; how technology revolutions impact strategy; and many stories of companies and their strategic journeys. We’ve also talked about different tools used in strategy development. But we haven’t yet talked at a high level about the general process of developing strategies. Over the next few days I want to lay out some of the key dimensions that shape strategy development.

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Rules for Revolutionaries is a short, breezy book filled with inspiration and insights for anyone wanting to change the world. Read the book when you want to be inspired, or when you feel worn down by the “bozos” who want to tell you all the reasons your vision can’t be realized.

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Hooked provides a simple model for how to achieve a level of control that the author jokingly calls a “superpower.” Companies that successfully implement the model enjoy tremendous benefits as can be seen by the profitability and market valuation of companies like Facebook, Google, and Amazon.

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