Developing a strategic plan helps an organization stay focused on its mission and vision. Your mission and vision describes where you are going; your strategic plan is the map that describes how you will get there. When you talk about mission and vision, you are involved in strategic thinking. Strategic planning is developing a process that will be used to communicate and implement your strategic thinking.
Leveraging who you are and what you are uniquely positioned to do will allow your organization to meet needs, develop a sense of purpose and strategically move forward. It will also give you a competitive edge over other organizations and events that are vying for the attention of the same people you are trying to reach. In the master planning process outlined by Bob Biehl, he suggests starting with a simple, yet profound, question: “What needs do we feel deeply burdened by and uniquely qualified to meet?” His question directs our attention to two issues: passion and position.
- What is the passion of your organization?
- What is it that you truly want to accomplish?
- When people think about your organization, what is the first thing you want to come to their minds?
Many organizations have a deep desire to help people and have a positive impact in the world. This is an incredible vision that should be applauded, but most try to fulfill this ambitious focus by using the shotgun methodology. They feel they have to reach everyone, so they offer a plethora of programs. They do lots of things, but few of these things are done well and even fewer have much of an impact. These organizations can easily be lulled into a false sense of accomplishment. They see everything they are doing and mistake this for impact. It tends to be true that when you focus your passion, time and energy on a few things, you will accomplish more in the long run.
- What are you uniquely positioned to do?
- Do you have built in advantages based on your location, style, facilities or reputation?
- What is something you can do that no one else can?
These questions can help launch you into the strategic planning journey.
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