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Learning Tree
Management Insights
EDITION 011
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Expert Advice from Today’s Top Professionals
Adapt and Survive: An Eight-Step Process for SuccessfulStrategic Planning
We’re all familiar with the adage, “When the going gets tough,the tough get going.” However, when advising managementprofessionals, I like to say, “When the going gets tough,strategic people start planning.” Why? Because during periodsof instability and uncertainty, a dynamic strategic planningprocess provides both individuals and the organization withthe clarity, focus and alignment needed to remain bothproductive and competitive. Best of all, there are very clear,concise steps that can be followed to ensure these desiredoutcomes are achieved.To illustrate my point, let’s consider this example: over a yearago, your organization merged with another. In this newenvironment, employees were confused and frustrated asconstant change was the order of the day. Managers werechallenged to keep their people focused and motivated eventhough they, themselves, couldn’t keep up with shifting goalsand objectives. Predictably, people longed for the “good olddays” when they knew exactly what was expected of them.To make matters worse, the economy suddenly souredcreating a tough economic climate. Senior management,committed to making the merger work, decided to addressthe issue head-on by introducing a strategic planning process.The expected outcomes from this initiative were to be thetools that would help rebuild a spirited and collaborative teamfocused on delivering customer value.Now here’s the twist: several individuals, including yourself,were tasked by management to develop and implementthis strategic planning process. Although you were pleasedto be given the assignment, both you and your colleaguesfelt overwhelmed—especially when it came to researchingthe best way to approach your new responsibilities. Itbecame abundantly clear that because no two businessesare alike, there was no real standard for creating a strategicplan. Fortunately, that’s when you discovered an eight-step methodology that would help the team develop—andimplement—both a process and a plan that could address theorganization’s unique needs.
Anita Caputo
This installment of 
 Management Insights
addresses the criticalelements that contribute to successful strategic planning. AnitaCaputo, author of 
 Promote Yourself 
and an expert on work changeresiliency, outlines a systematic process that is simple and effective.
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