A good friend and colleague of mine has the following quote at the end of his e-mail signature block:

“A goal without a plan is just a wish.”     – Anotoine De Saint-Exupery

As a consultant specializing in Strategic Planning, you can well imagine how much I like this quote. It is a great endorsement of the value of a plan.  And while I would be among the first to espouse the benefits of having a good plan, a plan is just a beginning.

The End of the Beginning Some of you who have endured long and arduous Strategic Planning processes might be dismayed with this concept.  “You mean after all that work, we are just getting started?  I was ready to celebrate crossing the finish line.”  Don’t get me wrong.  Completing a well-developed Strategic Plan is definitely a milestone.  But it is still only a plan.  It will take deployment, execution, measurement, reviews, modification, and more execution and measurement to realize any of the Goals or Vision embodied in the Plan.

Things Change...Faster than Ever Some of that work involves implementing tactics as identified in the initial plan document.  However, we all know the pace of change is faster than ever.  So it stands to reason that some of those initial tactics may have a limited shelf life.  At any time, change in the industry, your market place, or in customer preferences may dictate that some of the original tactics be re-evaluated and/or others be added to your Plan.

Go Beyond the “Plan” When viewed this way, the finalization of a three year Strategic Plan document really is just the beginning of three years of work.  But without this work, it is doubtful anything will really change.  So, if you are starting off the New Year with a New Plan, congratulations.  But know that the real work, the work that will ultimately result in change, is just beginning.  If I were going to try to come up with a quote that captures this aspect of Strategic Planning, and pattern it after the one above, it might be something like “A Plan without implementation is just a proposal.”

If I can help take your plan beyond proposal to reality, with deployment, execution tools, measurement systems, a review process, or tactics, contact me at your convenience.

Jeff