“Organizational culture eats strategy for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.”
What is Strategy?
Strategy is understanding where you are, where you are going and how you are going to get there. It’s a plan to achieve a desired future. Successful organizations use their strategic plans to outline future goals, develop competitive advantage and to build upon it. Strategic plans, then, are roadmaps that help us plan for the future that detail the best route from point A to point B.
Your business doesn’t need to be a Fortune 500 company to understand or to develop a really strong strategic plan. It is important to recognize that even in our personal lives we are often using strategy, although it looks slightly different.
- Achieve financial independence and be debt free
- Create an exciting, adventurous vacation where I can recharge and reconnect with my partner.
- Adopt a healthier lifestyle where I exercise more and eat healthier.
- Design a beautiful, welcoming home that reflects my values, interests and love.
- Cultivate a nurturing yet structured environment for my little league baseball team to love learning the fundamentals of the game.
Maybe you don’t have it written down like this, but you get the picture.
What is Organizational Culture?
Organizational culture is made up of shared. values, beliefs and assumptions about how people should behave and interact, how decisions should be. made and how work activities should be carried out. Winning organizational cultures prioritize employees and their relationship to the organization and its goals, which creates a positive experience for all. These individuals are likely to be engaged with and passionate about their work, two positive attributes that are essential for both sustainability and growth.
Why is a Strategic Plan Important?
The most sobering reason for having a strong strategic plan is the likelihood of business failure. While estimates vary, the Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates that 50% of businesses fail within the first five years. In many cases, people get so busy working “in” their business they never take the time to work “on” their business. They end up spinning their wheels and get caught up in the day-to-day operations. The challenge is managing the short term operational reality with long-term thinking to take the business to the next level.
We inherently know when we are working with a strategically directed business, because we hear it and see it through the actions of everyone we encounter in the organization. There is a heightened level of enthusiasm, which results from having this level of clarity. There are other extremely important benefits:
1. It’s not enough just to have a dream.
There must be direction and focus. If a business has little idea of where it’s headed, inevitably it will wander aimlessly with priorities changing and confusion about its initiatives. Remember the Cheshire Cat’s reply to Alice’s query about which way she should go? “If you don’t know where you are going any road can take you there.”
2. Alignment.
By unifying the entire team—from entry-level to Board of Directors—everyone is on the same page of what is to be done and how it will be achieved. This also increases productivity, morale and efficiency, because everyone understands the direction and is working towards common goals. Ultimately, having an overall strategic direction enables a business to align the decisions and resources needed to achieve success.
3. Simplifies decision-making.
A solid strategic plan prioritizes the activities necessary for success. It makes it easier to evaluate all the opportunities that come our way and to say “no” to distracting initiatives.
4. Communicates the message.
Many leaders walk around with a virtual strategy locked in their heads. A strategic plan helps unlock that strategy so staff, suppliers, partners or even customers will understand where you are going. With this understanding, you’ll find a greater eagerness to help maximize your success of getting there.
Lundius Creative Consulting 