Strategic planning goes beyond who does what and when

A strategic planning exercise

There is a locked room with a window is wide open. Bill and Hilary were dead on the floor. Inside the room, it's a chair, a table beside the chair and a bit 'of water and broken glass around the chair and table. How did Bill and Hillary die?

Maybe you already know the answer to this story. Or maybe you are thinking that the murderess is entered through the window, dropped the fan heater, or ....

First, take a moment to identify the problem. As we attempted to identify the problem, you've probably thought about who killed Bill and Hilary? or What killed Bill and Hilary? Yet, is not the problem as did Bill and Hillary die?

Then the hardest part of this simple exercise is to challenge all assumptions. The facts are very few, yet it was your first response based on facts not in evidence? You made assumptions in your effort to determine how did Bill and Hillary die? For these hypotheses is that potentially will lead you along a path to a correct solution.

I use this simple exercise like breaking the ice begins when clients work through the strategic planning process. Strategic planning goes beyond who does what and when, because this process is structured around challenging your assumptions.

What assumptions are you making about your business from your customers for employees, the economic climate and competition as well as opportunities for future growth? Perhaps, these assumptions may be preventing you from hitting your targets and not achieve your desired business results?

Even forward thinkers like Bill Gates have speculated. During the beginning of the PC revolution, Bill Gates was quoted as saying 640K should be enough for anyone. At that time all the graphics and audio most commonly used PC was not even imagined today. Bill made the assumption that the status quo is likely to continue.

Going back to the story of Bill and Hilary, what assumptions did you do? Most people fail to realize that they immediately made an assumption of Bill and Hillary people are. The facts do not support this hypothesis, but the belief systems of problem solvers potential to interfere with the simple solution to this problem.

An executable process solid and strategic planning challenges the assumptions of those involved, because when you are so busy working in the business your assumptions prevent you from working on the business. When you start to collect all information from market share to the future market and product growth, and remove the filter hypothesis, your mind is open to all potential opportunities that you could not really imagine.

Over the past 10 years as an executive coach who works with small to multi-billion dollar organizations, I realized that the world would be more successful if more people take the time to create an executable strategic plan. And the plan might be better rendered operative when all hypotheses are under discussion.

So the question is what assumptions are you making about your business? Oh, and by the way, Bill and Hilary dead to be exposed to air, as if they were goldfish .......