Avoid strategic plan nightmares.

Executing ideas that sounded great in creative sessions can turn into nightmares. Often, execution fails because of the “bright, shiny object” illusion or a failure to address the reality of current work practices.

Poorly designed goals and action plans that don’t incorporate the current systems and people or are mismatched with the company’s vision and values will fail. Jokingly threatening to fire everyone and hire the “right ones” to get the idea to work is a fool’s mission for any company. Threats like these should be seen as warning signs about the workability of any blueprint.

Create workable goals and don’t change the goal to accommodate the action plan! Learn how to work backwards to produce a focused action from the desired result—it will illuminate often-overlooked problems. These discoveries, when realistically addressed, will help you avoid strategic plan nightmares.

(c)Jeannette L. Seibly, 2013

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