Some readers might be thinking, Strategic planning is fine for big corporations and airlines, but how important is it for the rest of us? Being strategic about what you do (planning activities and allocating resources toward accomplishing longer-term goals) is smart no matter how big (or small) your organization is, or how formal (or informal) your planning. In fact, strategic thinking can be even more useful for a smaller organization in terms of being better able to organize, get consensus and implement ideas quickly. And as many have found, the process of creating the plan (employee engagement, research, analysis, communication, articulation of values and goals) can be more valuable than the plan itself.
A key element is to be painfully honest about what really drives you as the leader, and how that affects the values and mission of the organization. Is it about protecting or growing your budget? Your image in the community? Ensuring your agency doesn’t get swallowed up in consolidation? Providing the best customer service and patient care possible?
Two years after starting JEMS, the Journal of Emergency Medical Services, the late Jim Page and I realized we needed to step back from the enormous day-to-day pressure of putting out a monthly publication and look out to the future. In the winter of 1982, Jim and I and all half-dozen of our mostly part-time staff rented a house in Idyllwild, Calif., at the base of the snow-covered San Jacinto Mountains, for a strategic planning retreat. We also hired an experienced outside facilitator to assist us. I have to admit, at the time the whole thing seemed like an audacious undertaking for such a tiny organization having trouble making ends meet.
Years later, Jim and I would remark to people separately that the weekend at Idyllwild was a seminal event, one that changed our lives. It clarified our vision, consolidated the team, articulated our competitive position and created the foundation for a business model that went far beyond publishing a magazine. Sure, we got a binder with a strategic plan and a new mission statement. But the real value was a lifelong appreciation for the importance of finding the time to envision and articulate a better future with those who can help make it come true.
