Strategic Planning Process
Strategic Learning is a learning-based process for creating and implementing winning strategies and modifying those strategies as the environment changes. The process harnesses insight to make the best choices on where to compete, what to offer, and how to win by generating greater customer and economic value than competitors.
What is Strategy?
An organization's strategy harnesses insight to make the best choices on where it will compete, what it will offer, and how it will win by generating greater customer and economic value than its competitors. The essential job of strategy is to create an intense focus on the few things that matter most.
Use our interactive tool to build your own strategic plan
The Strategic Learning Process
The process is driven by a dynamic cycle with four linked action steps: Learn, Focus, Align and Execute. The first two steps (Learn, Focus) are the basis for strategy creation. The third and fourth steps (Align, Execute) are the foundation for strategy implementation.
1. Learn - Conduct Situation Analysis
Generate key insights into the external environment and organization's own realities - those brutal truths that enable the best choices. Deep dive into:
- The Broader Environment: Economic trends, technology, demographics
- Industry Dynamics: How trends change the rules of success
- Customers: Hierarchy of needs and buying behaviors
- Competitors: Their business models and unique benefits
- Own Realities: Performance trends, profit concentration, strengths/weaknesses
2. Focus - Define Strategic Choices
Based on insights, define strategic choices that represent the core of your strategy:
- Competitive Focus: Where will we compete? Which customers? What offerings?
- Winning Proposition: What will we do differently or better than competitors?
- Key Priorities: The few things (max 5) that will make the biggest difference
3. Align - Business System Alignment
Align all elements of the business system to support strategy implementation:
- Measures & Rewards: Measurement and reward systems
- People: Competencies and motivation
- Structure & Process: Organization design and business processes
- Culture: Widely shared beliefs and behaviors
4. Execute - Implement & Experiment
Put strategy into action with disciplined execution:
- Action Plan: Overcome resistance and drive momentum
- Leadership Message: Create compelling communication (What, Why, How, How Much)
- Experimentation: Conduct experiments and learn what works
- Short-term Wins: Generate early victories to build momentum
Key Principles of Strategic Learning
Vital disciplines that guide the strategic learning process:
Sequence is Crucial
The essential starting point is the Situation Analysis – the intelligence system that informs all subsequent steps.
Focus is the Core
The Winning Proposition is the central idea around which an organization unifies all its decisions and activities.
Elements Don't Work in Isolation
Each step builds on the prior one and confers power on the next step.
Wide Participation is Important
People support what they help to build. Create broad involvement in the strategic learning process.
Simplicity is Key
No strategy document should ever be longer than 10 pages. Focus on clarity and essential insights.
Create Unity of Action
Each internal function must develop a line of sight to the organization's strategic goals.
Strategy vs. Planning
- Making choices on where to compete and how to win
- Creates intense focus on the few things that matter most
- Mainly about ideas
- Provides orderliness and discipline
- Creates forecasts, logistics and budgets
- Largely about numbers
Sequential Logic: Strategy comes first, and planning follows.
Strategy Output Framework
A strategy must provide clear and compelling answers to six critical questions:
| Question | Description |
|---|---|
| 1. What are our key insights and their implications? | What are the brutal truths about the external environment and our internal realities which will enable us to make the most intelligent choices? How are these truths changing the rules of success? |
| 2. What is our main challenge? | What is the "do or die" issue (or issues) we must deal with? |
| 3. Where will we compete and what will we offer? | a) Which geographies, markets and customer segments will we compete in? (And which not?) b) What products/services will we offer our chosen customers? (And which not?) |
| 4. How will we win? | What will be our Winning Proposition and Key Priorities? |
| 5. How will we generate superior profits? | What will be our business model (i.e., how we make, sell, and distribute) for achieving superior profits? |
| 6. How will we execute our strategy? | How will we mobilize our business system and win the hearts and minds of our people behind our strategy? |
The Four Keys to Successful Implementation
Successful strategy implementation requires disciplined execution across four critical areas:
1. Translate Key Priorities into Gaps
Convert Key Priorities into gap statements defining current state vs. desired future state, with milestones to measure progress.
Operationalizes strategy with clear accountability and measurable outcomes.2. Align the Business System
Ensure all elements (People, Structure & Process, Culture, Measures & Rewards) support the strategy like an ecosystem.
Creates a locomotive effect when all parts work together toward strategic goals.3. Create Compelling Leadership Message
Communicate strategy with clarity across four dimensions: What (strategic choices), Why (brutal truths), How (process), How Much (size of the prize).
Wins hearts and minds through simple, clear communication with examples and stories.4. Drive Momentum & Overcome Resistance
Maximize participation, generate short-term wins, remove resisters if necessary, and set a shining example.
Human beings resist change by nature - proactive action plan is essential for success.