Annual Strategic Planning
Annual Strategic Planning
We are nearing a new year yet again & it is time to dust off the game plans of last year and see how much was executed and what new initiatives are in store. Within this article the TLI family drafted a ‘map of meaning’ to ensure you get through your executive planning sessions as efficiently as possible.
Begin the meeting opening with a group question:
‘Is there clarity & alignment from the leadership team cascading down to every role within our organization?’
Once the ‘vibe’ is articulated see if it passes the ‘Cares test’:
- C – Consistent
- A – Authentic
- R – Relevant
- E – Emotionally Compelling
- S – Simple
Perhaps a leader feels brave & brazen advising: “our goal is to make a bunch of profit!”
Profits are necessary for the survival of the company just like oxygen. Ask collectively if the purpose of life is to ‘breath’?
Oxygen is innate to survival just as profits are.
The formula to create a healthy strategic plan that is consistently scalable can be rooted in a simple formula:
“Clarity + Alignment = Impact”
The goal here is a flywheel where a positive feedback loop is developed that continually rewards scalability & growth.
All problems in strategic planning should be scaled back platonically to essence:
Clarity: Mission, Vision, Purpose
Alignment: People, Processes, Performance
Impact: Purpose, Profit
Clarity: Mission, Vision, Purpose
To ensure every role in the company clearly knows why they spend hours of labor growing the organization ensure the mission & vision statement is no more than 7 words.
For the mission & vision to be executed it is not wise to have paragraphs of complexity. A worthwhile mission is hard! In the theme of the New Year - Exercising is also hard! If we all walk around with a book on all the merits of healthy eating it will not result in change, even if it is intellectually known. To make lasting change it needs to go beyond simply the ego, because the ego is not in control, if it was we would all be vice-free with 6-pack abs.

Make the mission statement no more than a mantra that is so elegantly stated that it is the mantra, the heartbeat that your company hums to in the whirlwinds of daily activity. If you want that mission statement to be on autopilot as you grow into the New Year then keep it concise. If you want the vision to be fulfilled, make sure there is alignment between your team, because even with the best-intentioned folks if they are running towards different destinations, it will create opportunities for unnecessary friendly fire.
Alignment: People, Processes, Performance
If there is clarity in mission & vision and the purpose is still not being fulfilled. Attention needs to shift onto alignment.
To get the best performance out of teams it comes down to culture and how scalable the execution of processes are. If the processes are not mapped out, if they are constantly changing room for error runs rampant and clarity is sacrificed.
KISS “Keep it simple, stupid!”
To create alignment in company culture, have the team answer the questions that have plagued existentialist for millennia with answers STRICTLY no longer than 6 words:
- Why do we exist?
- Who do we serve?
- What do we stand for?
- Where are we going?
- How will we get there?
We wish you the best of luck heading into Executive Strategic Planning as we head into the New Year. If this was valuable perhaps check out our blog on how to form a strategic advisory board that was written by our Owner Scott McDevitt.
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