Summary:
“Bill and Hillary are dead in a locked room, with a window wide open and broken glass on the floor.” This information is given to clients of a strategic consultant as an exercise designed to challenge our assumptions. For example, did you automatically think Bill and Hillary were people? Or did you that they were murdered? Understanding that we all make automatic assumptions helps set the stage for examining a business and how we and others perceive it. Bottom line: assume nothing!
A solid and executable strategic planning process challenges the assumptions of those involved because when you are so busy working in the business your assumptions keep you from working on the business. You become comfortable and believe your assumptions are actually facts.
Moving from that mindset and gathering all the information from market share to future market and product growth – with a removed assumption filter allows your mind to open to all the potential opportunities that before you couldn’t truly envision.
Article Quote:
“When you begin to gather all the information from market share to future market and product growth and you have removed the assumption filter, your mind is now open to all the potential opportunities that before you couldn’t truly envision.”
Link: http://strategicplanning.doodig.com/2010/02/11/strategic-planning-goes-beyond-who-does-what-by-when/
Participating in these kinds of mental exercises help us to self-evaluate and open our minds to possibilities we never knew existed. Strategic planning should be approached with an open mind so that several different scenarios can be evaluated and our automatic assumptions stay out of the creative process as much as possible.
For more on strategic planning, see http://www.performancesolutionstech.com/category/strategicplanning/
Summary:
What do you do when you think the strategic plan you are asked to follow is flawed? This article addresses this question with the answer that as a good citizen within your company, it is your responsibility to speak up.
However, you should proceed cautiously as negativity is sure to be met with resistance by the executives that spent much time and energy creating the plan. To begin with, you should diagnose and understand the whole picture by trying to understand what problem executives were trying to solve and the methodology behind it.
Next, contextualize your concerns by asking yourself, “Is it that you would have expected a different direction or do you believe that the analysis, facts, or process that the company used [were] flawed?”
If afterwards you still feel that the strategy is flawed, quietly and carefully bring it up to your immediate supervisor first. Having data to back up your assumptions and approaching the subject as a concerned employee will go a lot farther with your boss than a hot headed approach.
Article Quote:
“After taking the above steps, if your concerns have been shrugged off or disputed, you may need to choose your battles. “Skepticism is hugely helpful in organizations but bloody-minded obstinacy is not,” Sull says. People have very little respect for someone who ruthlessly fights over imperfections.”
Link: http://blogs.hbr.org/hmu/2010/02/when-you-think-the-strategy-is.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:+harvardbusiness/hmu+(Management+Essentials+on+HBR.org)
Doing your homeword and asking honest questions about your true motivation for disagreeing with the strategic plan may be enough to realize that perfection isn’t possible and the plan – while you may not understand the reasoning behind it – may not be as flawed as originally thought.
However, even if you are correct in your opinion, be prepared for resistance by articulating your concerns with a well reasoned argument with correct data to back it up.
For more on strategic planning, see http://www.performancesolutionstech.com/category/strategicplanning/