To achieve a successful exit one day, strategic thinking is more important than the document
Strategic planning is a tool for identifying where your company is today, where you want it to be tomorrow and what the opportunities and issues are that are keeping you from closing any gap that you have. But to close the gap between what your business is worth today and what you’d like it to be worth tomorrow, it’s not the strategic plan document that will get you there, it’s the strategic thinking that will.
The strategic plan is a document….that document is good or bad depending on just one thing – how good the strategic thinking is that went into it. The plan document just captures the output from the strategic thinking. So, the first question to ask yourself shouldn’t be “do I have a strategic plan”? The first question should be are me and my team having the right level of strategic thought and dialog? Are you and your team discussing the right strategic questions about your industry, your customers and your company? The old adage in business is true….one is better having a great thinking team with poor documentation than a poor strategic thinking team but a great planning document.
Now think about a strategic planning campaign as a facilitator of great strategic dialog with your team. That thinking will lead to ideas for action and of course there is value in capturing it in a plan document that you and your team can use to manage progress. But avoid the mistake of feeling good about having a strategic plan if you’re not confident of the strategic thinking that the plan is based on.
Don’t leave your future euphoric exit event to chance or luck. Build a muscle of strong strategic thinking by starting to ask new, insightful questions that will get you and your team thinking and discussing company worth building activities. Don’t worry about the document, first worry about the thinking.
