Changing Our Perception
of the word Strategy
Winston
Churchill once said “However beautiful the
strategy, you should occasionally look at the results.” Once upon a time,
employees implemented strategies that were supposedly focused on the
organizations overarching goals. Some of these divine plans may have been made
in a vacuum with little or no input from team players. Others were probably the
results of creativity and innovation on the part of aspiring staff attempting
to effect positive change.
When some mentions the word strategy it creates one of two types
of responses: dread or excitement for a new opportunity. Either way, the way we
approach strategies today continues to evolve over time. For example, some may
approach the development of a strategy by looking a lessons learned and then
building upon an antiquated foundation. In this tech focused age, it is
imperative that unique as well as new approaches to solving organizational
challenges be made. This may require a new vision that acknowledges best
practices, but does not solely rely on them to move the organization’s mission
forward.
Some people dread the need to create strategies because it is
perceived as a mountain of work that may not provide the highly valued metrics
we all crave, especially during employee evaluation time. This is an
opportunity to “right-size” your perception regarding the development of a strategy.
This includes leveraging the S.M.A.R.T. goals principle to enhance your project
approach. SMART stands for:
•
Specific: target
a specific area for improvement.
•
Measurable: quantify,
or at least suggest, an indicator of progress.
•
Achievable: ensure
you have the team, time and tools to get the work done
•
Realistic: state
what results can realistically be achieved given available
resources.
•
Time-bound: identify
when the result can be achieved.
Also, don’t forget the creative aspect of strategies. When
presented with a work challenge, take time out to consider all of the
possibilities, not just the ones management asked you to consider. It may be a
struggle at first to consider the possibilities outside the original goal.
However, once you try this approach, you can envision the bigger picture when
it comes to creating and implementing a plan focused on measurable results. There
are creative tools such as unstructured brainstorming sessions, mind maps and
more than can help generate innovative approaches to strategic planning
endeavors.
Take time to identify ways to measure your results. For example,
will you use an online tool, manual assessment or simply rely on a third party
to generate the data for you? Either way, you need to assess your progress as
well as determine how to overcome barriers to the plan’s success. Moreover, be
willing to take a necessary step back to determine if the process is stagnating
efforts or moving the organization forward.
Lastly, there are other benefits to learning how to evolve the approach
to developing strategies. Once you learn how to make an effective plan, you can
then mirror that effort to design strategies for your professional goals. I had
a former director who once told me that if I have plans, I should write them
down in order to achieve them. She said is it the start of creating a career
oriented strategy that will set the foundation for my career. And she was
right.
