Strategy exercises–whether for your career or your organization–often fail because they are incomplete. They scratch the itch we all get to have our daily work align with something important but they often don’t fix the problem. Some fail because they are incomplete in concept; they don’t cover enough ground nor include important perspectives. Others fail because the process is incomplete. They usually ignore the important implementation, follow up, and–most important–course correction steps. And others fail because they try to do too much or too little.
What you really need to do:
- Set the scope. How big is your focus? How far out in time? How will you know you’re done?
- Start with constructive perspectives. This includes having the right people involved and trusting your own knowledge about your talents, passions, and needs. And it includes solid information about who you might serve.
- Clear process. Know before your start the major steps and how you’ll complete them. If working with others, agree on ground rules like the definition of consensus.
- Facilitation to focus thinking, maintain momentum. Have someone with a neutral agenda help you think through and avoid the mental, emotional, and political traps.
- Execute, Track, and Course Correct. Follow through. It’s so important to commit to the follow-through work as part of building your strategy. Career and corporate strategies succeed when there are simple plans, processes, and ways follow up and adjust course without losing the dream as time passes and things change.
Invest in these 5 pieces and they will pay off handsomely for you and your organization.
Want some help with your career or business strategy? Happy to help.