Simplicity: Strategic Planning for Business and Life

Copyright 2014 Brian J. Rhiness.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the written prior permission of the author.

isbn: 978-1-4907-3579-5 (sc)

isbn: 978-1-4907-3580-1 (hc)

isbn: 978-1-4907-3581-8 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2014909035

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CONTENTS

Introduction:   Why Write This Book?

How to Use this book

Section 1: Getting Ready to Plan

Chapter 1   Getting Ready to Plan

Chapter 2   Strategic Leadership

Chapter 3   Systems Thinking Simplicity

Chapter 4   Strategic Thinking Simplicity

Chapter 5   Strategic Management

Section 2: Getting the most out of your planning process

Chapter 6   Getting the most out of your strategic planning process

Chapter 7   Plan to Plan

Chapter 8   The Planning Retreat

Chapter 9   Stakeholder Engagement

Chapter 10 Future Environmental Scanning

Chapter 11 Future State

Chapter 12 Do Measures Matter?

Chapter 13 Understanding Your Current State

Chapter 14 Build Your Action Bridge

Chapter 15 Your Strategic Life Plan

Section 3: Execution

Chapter 16 Successful Plan Execution

Chapter 17 Plan to Implement

Chapter 18 Change

Chapter 19 Action Summary

Chapter 20 Regular Updates

Chapter 21 Getting back on track

Chapter 22 Scenario Planning

Chapter 23 Continuous Learning

Acknowledgments

Definitions

To all those with the relentless curiosity to learn and grow.

INTRODUCTION

Why Write This Book?

I must start with a confession: I do not like strategic planning. My preference is to get busy making things happen. Getting results is much more exciting and rewarding.

After many years of leading organizations and serving on boards I have participated in countless strategic planning exercises. Some were worthwhile and successful, most were not. It would have been easy to conclude that strategic planning is a waste of time. That knee jerk reaction conflicted with my firm belief that setting and implementing strategic direction is the number one role of leaders and vital to the future of any organization. An organization without a plan will not achieve its potential and will be in constant danger of total failure. My response to this dilemma was to set up a strategic advisory company and use my hard learned lessons to help make the planning process simpler and more successful for leading individuals and organizations. The Rhiness Group was born.

The foundation of The Rhiness Group and this book is to make strategic planning and execution simple. Simple is not the same as easy. Much of the work that comes out of strategic planning exercises will be hard. It can take years of effort to successfully implement strategies and get the results you are looking for. What should be simple and clear is the direction you are taking and the actions needed to get you there. Throughout this book you will be constantly reminded of The Rhiness Group motto:

Simplicity—Clarity—Action—Results

It is not just a motto but a proven way of doing strategic planning that makes the process less painful and dramatically improves your chances of success. Throughout the book we will stress keeping things simple and clear. People like to take action on things and they want to get results. You want your people to do exactly that. If you are giving them complex and confusing direction, they will take action and you will get results. Will they be the actions and results you want? You will get much better results if your directions are simple and clear and lead to measureable results.

It is a well documented fact that more than 75% of strategic plans fail. They fail for a number of reasons. In many cases the plan is developed by a small group of senior managers at their annual planning event (sometimes linked to a recreational opportunity) and then placed in a desk somewhere until it is brought out for review the following year. It was never intended to be implemented. In other cases people are serious about building a real plan but fail to involve the right people so there is no buy-in and implementation fails. Still others will hire a high priced outside organization to create the plan and deliver it to them with great fanfare. These are the biggest, brightest and most costly flameouts.

There is no shortcut to successful strategic planning. It absolutely requires full support and commitment from the senior ranks of the organization. You will need to involve as many stakeholders as possible to ensure buy-in and then unwavering focus on daily execution of the plan. If that sounds like hard work, it is. Anything worthwhile, like your organization or your life plan, requires commitment and hard work. This book will show you how to make the process of planning and implementing simple and straightforward.

Effective strategic planning and implementation requires the commitment and direct involvement of everyone in the organization. It is highly advisable to bring in an outside facilitator. Even in cases where you have very good strategic planning people on staff, you will benefit from outside help. An outside facilitator can act as a guide and remove process issues that can be a barrier to what you are really seeking—a great conversation. Internal people, no matter how great, will always bring a bias to the process. Look for that trusted advisor to be your guide.

I talk to a lot of people about strategic planning. In some cases, I turn down potential contracts when it is obvious the people are not serious, are looking for easy answers or are doing it because a lender, board or partner are demanding it. There are also senior managers that will emphatically state that they do not need a plan, they are solely focussed on execution. Executing what? Without a plan there is nothing real to execute. People in those organizations are confused and frustrated. They show up for work every day wanting to do something that makes a difference with no hope. Execution without a visible plan is pure folly.

Strategic planning is not an event; it is an on-going process. What that really means is that you must commit yourself and the organization to strategic management. Strategic management is the plan, effective implementation and sustaining high performance on an on-going basis. In this book we will take you through the steps to turn that plan on the shelf into a living process.

Effective strategic management brings with it the clarity, the accountability, the trust and the focus needed to dramatically improve your chances of success.

This book will guide you through the steps of effective strategic management for your organization. There is no one process or magic formula that works for all organizations. If someone tells you they have a template strategic planning process that works for everyone, show them the door quickly. You and your organization are unique. The process must be suited for your organization. We will show you how to do that. The steps in this book can be used for building your personal life plan as well. Look for the section on building your life plan (p. 77).

We have designed the book to be user friendly. You can go back at anytime and check specific sections, go over the key questions to ask or just help get things back on track.

Many organizations fear that keeping things simple makes them appear unsophisticated or uninteresting. A complex plan better reflects how complex their business is. This is absolutely wrong. Who are you trying to impress? Most organizations are doing complex things and yours is no exception. Successful organizations have clear strategic priorities that everyone can focus on.

Some advisory companies will try to saddle you with long, drawn out processes and extravagant models. They will deliver documents that no one can interpret. If you cannot explain it, you cannot implement it. Allow me to guide you from complexity to the beauty of simplicity and better results.

At the start of this chapter I admitted that I do not like strategic planning. I do have a passion for helping individuals and organizations succeed. This book comes from that passion and my commitment to help you in your journey. Enjoy the read.

Brian J. Rhiness

HOW TO USE THIS BOOK

It is not necessary to be an expert on strategic planning to build and implement a great plan. If you are reading this book to assist in building a new life plan, all of the building blocks are here to help you change your life. If you are part of an organization that does not have