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/