Consulting
Services:
Strategic Planning |
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"We
hired Frontier Associates to create our company's first
Strategic Plan. We got much more than that.
In
the plan itself we have a blueprint for where we want to
take the company and what it stands for. In the process
of our focused pursuit of the plan, we have energized the
employees of our company in a way we have not seen in our
first 7 years of business."
-- Larry Dutra, President, American Clubs, LLC
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Creativity, Not Analysis,
Is the Backbone of Great Strategy |
| The
purpose of strategic planning is to make big picture choices that
determine the future direction of an organization. This big picture
is then used to formulate near-term goals and tactics for reaching
those goals, which become the basis of action plans and eventually
people's daily activities and projects. |
| If
the process used for strategic planning begins by gathering and analyzing
data - on the organization, its competitors, the marketplace, and
so on - the goals which result are almost always confined by the findings
of that analysis. Said another way, this style of planning essentially
ensures that the organization's future can only ever be an extension
of its past. |
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assert that the development of great strategy is a creative rather
than an analytical act. At its most powerful, strategic planning is
the opportunity for an organization to design and reach strategic
goals that are unencumbered by past or present circumstances, and
literally create for itself the opportunity and ability to reach an
unpredictibly exciting and compelling future. |
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"Companies
that have risen to global leadership...invariably began with
ambitions that were out of all proportions to their resources
and capabilities."
--
Gary Hamel and C.K. Prahalad, "Strategic Intent,"
Harvard Business Review
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Designing the Future from the Future™ |
| Our
unique Future from the Future™ approach to strategic planning
is based on three core principles: |
| 1. |
Work from the
future backward.
Powerful plans are created when the organization's stakeholders are
free to speculate about what might be possible, and tailor their activities
to bring about what excites them. This is as opposed to starting in
the present and designing a plan that attempts to optimize the organization's
future based on its current circumstances. |
| 2. |
Involve people
from throughout the organization.
Management's perspective alone is rarely broad enough to create a
plan that effectively represents the organization's various stakeholders.
Including a cross section of people with differing roles and responsibilities
helps to ensure the efficacy of the plan, both because buy-in will
be stronger, and because the people who are intimately involved with
day-to-day operations have added their knowledge and experience to
its creation. |
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3.
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Make decisions by consensus (versus compromise).
Consensus means that every participant has equal power to veto decisions
made by the planning group. Though this may sound potentially difficult,
we have found it to be fairly easy to accomplish. Our process of reaching
consensus engenders the kind of communication and creativity that
results in a solid plan and high buy-in throughout the organization. |
| The
strategic plans that are produced using the Future from the Future
process are consistently relevant, actionable and exciting. They become: |
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A
foundation upon which to make decisions |
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A
strong business case for investors |
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Support
for organizational growth and/or other change |
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Excitement
and energy among staff or volunteers |
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A
wider array of choices when faced with problems or challenges |
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A
thoughtful strategic roadmap that can enable the organization to fulfill
its purpose |
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"The
Future from the Future approach was extremely beneficial because
it gave us an opportunity to start over as a brand new company
that wasn’t vested in a particular market or product
segment.
Other approaches that involve building a future from the current
perspective (which might include stagnated growth and underperformance)
would have been limiting."
--
Ralph Heimann, Former President, Botanicals International
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Frontier Associates
Strategic Planning Services
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1. Strategic Planning Workshop |
| A
two-day (or equivalent) facilitated event where people from your organization
work together to create the strategic plan, including: |
| • |
An organizational
Vision: The difference the organization is committed to making
in the world; the reason people work there; the source of passion. |
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Mission:
A broad statement of how the organization proposes to fulfill its
Vision. |
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Values:
Those behavioral guidelines that the organization views as critical
to accomplishing its Vision and Mission. |
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A set of Strategic
Goals: Measurable results that the organization says would be
evidence that it is accomplishing its Vision and Mission. |
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A Strategic
Plan, including overall strategies and milestone accomplishments
that articulate clearly how the organization plans to accomplish its
Strategic Goals. This plan includes clear and measurable tactical
one- and three-year goals. |
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A Structure
of Support for the implementation of the plan, including champions
accountable for the accomplishment of each one-year goal and agreement
on a timeline. |
| Typically
the strategic plan is in rough form by the end of the workshop and
requires subsequent work by participants to tweak some of the language
into its final form before typing it up for distribution. |
2. Strategic Plan Implementation Program |
| A
one-year program with the intended results of accomplishing the organization's
first year goals. It includes: |
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1 hour per month
group telephone coaching of Champions for 12 months |
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1 hour per month
one-on-one coaching of the President/CEO for 12 months |
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3 quarterly half-day
follow-up implementation meetings |
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1 annual full-day
review and next year planning meeting |
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"The
result of our work with Frontier is a strategic plan that
we put to use consistently to guide our decision-making. We
have also found it easier to set new goals because the plan
provides a strong foundation to build upon. Board-staff relationships
are stronger as a result of this process as well."
--
Leslie Gilbert-Lurie, Board President, Alliance for Children's
Rights
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