Idealistic Strategic Planning

Strategic has become extremely important in government organizations. Unfortunately, many do not understand what really is, nor do they have an idea about how to begin. Vice President Al Gore recently said, At the beginning of fiscal 1998, after learning from the pilot programs, all federal agencies must develop 5year plans linked ... to measurable outcomes.1 Returning recently from a meeting with an official from an activity at my installation, I was struck with the concept of how little understanding we have of the process of planning. This particular meeting's purpose was to respond to a request for facilitation of a strategic planning workshop. As I listened to what the official had planned for his organization-refining goals, objectives and tasks for the next one to three years-I realized it was not but some form of long-range planning. I recommend the organization for taking the time to develop a plan, but it was not planning. Strategic consists of creating a future for an organization by discovering organizational purpose (why do we exist?), developing organizational values, creating a vision for the future and developing strategies to achieve that future state. My experience working with leaders of major organizations indicates there are several reasons for preferring long-range rather than planning. First and foremost is the make it happen on my watch orientation. This creates a tendency to plan only for the tenure of the reigning senior leader. Whether his tour is for two, three or more years, plans will only endure for the length of the leader's tenure and will change as rapidly as do the leaders. True sessions focus on tomorrow and how could be better than the way they are. We are comfortable with the daily problems associated with work and gain much satisfaction from doing things daily. But how much effort is directed toward a future state 10 to 25 years hence? Trying to create or describe a future state is often outside the comfort zone and written off as unrealistic or unachievable; thus, no attempts are made to plan for the future. Instead, the focus is on where we are today and how we should deal with today's problems. Solutions to today's problems are still focused on the present state. Long-range depends heavily on our experience of the recent past and our sense of what is realistic. This keeps us in a present state of mind. Strategic has little to do with past experiences or daily tasks and problems. Longrange planning, sometimes called operations planning, is quite different and begins with today's resources, problems, demands, constraints and opportunities. It uses a series of extrapolations of past events modified by judgment and apparent necessity to create a picture of what can be expected in the future. Both kinds of might cover the same time frame and involve strategy development. But, while long-range starts where you are and works forward, begins with the future and works backward. Both perspectives are useful, although they frequently result in different and even contradictory views of the future. Making the Best Decisions Today Strategic presumes the future and is based on the assumption that we can create a future that is desirable, one that is different from our present and one that is ideal. Unfortunately, traditionalists resist true as a waste of time and effort. They describe it as pie in the sky and unrealistic thinking. It would be nice to have at least one structure to follow that would afford the organization the opportunity to create its future and which might transcend senior leader tenure and love of the present state. Strategic is a normative approach to thinking about the future. …