Turning Intentions into Results

5 Ways to Keep Your Plan from Gathering Dust

By Peter Christian • Published October 2010

In our April eNews we used the analogy of a “road trip” to describe the importance of developing a Strategic Plan. So you’ve got a Plan, now what? Creating the map (aka Strategic Plan) was the first step, now you need to turn those intentions into the right actions that will deliver results for your company. Yet far too many companies make the mistake of seeing the Plan itself as an end point, as if the act of writing the Plan will make it happen. To the contrary, it’s only the road map. Now it’s up to you and your organization to pay attention to follow its direction.

A Fortune Magazine cover story in 1999 found that 9 out of 10 organizations fail to implement their Strategic Plan for various reasons including:

• 60% of organizations don’t link strategy to budgeting (financial cents)
• 75% didn’t link employee incentives to strategy (keeping score)
• 86% of business owners and managers spend less than one hour a month discussing strategy (have a Plan B)
• 95% of a typical workforce doesn’t understand their organization’s strategy (share the vision)

The only thing worse than not having a Strategic Plan is having one that no one implements! The message it sends is that developing a Plan didn’t really matter and there is no one steering the ship. This undermines not only your leadership, but the company’s motivation and future.

To see results a Strategic Plan must be a living, actionable document because, in today’s business environment, being late to your destination translates into missed opportunities. This issue of eNews will break down the implementation process and recommend 5 key steps that must be taken to keep your Strategic Plan from gathering dust.