Strategic Thinking & Planning Strategic Thinking & Planning OverviewOverview

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WELCOME TO

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Training Objectives

At the end of this training, participants will be able to:

Know the difference between Conventional Management and Strategic Management.

Understand what it means to think strategically.

Understand the importance of Strategic Planning.

Understand the relationship between Strategic Thinking and Strategic Planning.

Outline the Strategic Planning Process.

Know how to apply Strategic Thinking and Planning to their organization.

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What Is Strategy?

Strategy is:– A stream of decisions focused on a purpose.– Looking long term.– Capitalizing on change.– Managing strategic risks.– The creation of a unique and valuable position in your industry.– Choosing what not to do.– Creating a fit among an organization’s activities.

Strategy is about finding a unique way to put the organization’s activities (buying, selling, producing, hiring, firing, etc.) together that is hard or impossible for competitors to replicate and is valuable to customers.

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Strategy is the larger vision in an organization that guides the plans for employees and managers.

Strategic planning must anticipate unexpected events, randomness, and chaos to provide a good strategy.

Strategy has its foundation in strategic thinking. It is the determination of the long-term goals and objectives of an organization and the courses of action and resources necessary for implementing these goals.

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In modern organizations, executives include every level

of the organization in developing and implementing

the overall strategy.

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How is sustained,

superior

performance

attained?

Good strategic planning allows an organization to develop a sustainable, competitive advantage.

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The Role of Strategy

Long Term SuccessSuccessUnlikely

FailureMaybe successful

For a while

Effective

Ineffective

Strategy

Excellent

Poor

Execution

Sustained, superior performance is attained by utilizing a combination of effective strategies and excellent execution

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What Is Strategic Management?

Strategic management is about anticipating, driving, and capitalizing on change:

– Anticipating: seeing the future

– Driving: shaping the future

– Capitalizing: making the most of the future

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Conventional Thinking vs. Strategic Management

Conventional Thinking:

“If it ain’t broke. . . Don’t fix it.”

Strategic Management:

“If it ain’t broke. . . You haven’t looked hard enough.– Fix it anyway!”

Tom Peters - Thriving on Chaos

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The Strategic Management Cycle

Doing

Thinking

Planning

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• A strategic plan is the roadmap that will take the organization from where it is today to where it wants to go in the coming years.

• Having a plan is as important to the organization’s future as architectural plans are to building a home.

• Strategic Planning has its foundation on the statements that describe who we are, where we want to go, and how we will strive for our goals. They include:

– Mission Statement– Vision Statement– Value Statement

Strategic Management - Where To Start?In any strategic planning process, you must start by developing a Strategic Plan.

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Mission, Vision and Value Statements

• Serves to identify the overall purpose of an organization.– Identifies customers/stakeholders.– Helps identify customer and stakeholder needs, expectations.– Leads to the development of performance measures.

• Miami-Dade County’s Mission:

"Delivering excellent public services that address our community's needs

and enhance our quality of life."

Mission Statement:

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The key to a Strategic Plan is the vision.`

• A vision is where we want to be, what we are working towards. 

• It describes what we strive for everyday.

• Miami-Dade County’s Vision Statement:

Mission, Vision and Value Statements

“Delivering Excellence Every Day”

The Vision Statement:

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• Value statements are grounded in values, and define how people want to behave with each other in an organization.

• They represent an organization’s highest priorities and deeply held driving forces.

• They are statements about how the organization will value customers, suppliers, and the internal community.

• They are an organization’s core beliefs and behavior guidelines.

Mission, Vision and Value Statements

The Value Statement:

Values are also known as Core Values and as Governing Values, and Guiding Principles.

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Customer-focused and customer-driven. Honest, ethical and fair to all Accountable and responsive to the public. Diverse and sensitive. Efficient and effective. Committed to development of leadership in public service. Innovative. Valuing and respectful of each other. Action-oriented.

Mission, Vision and Value Statements

Miami-Dade County Value Statements or Guiding Principles:

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To develop a strategic plan, you must think strategically. Start by answering three key questions:

1. Where are we now?• Part of this can be answered by using financial analysis. • Use other tools to assess what strategic resources,

capabilities and core competencies you have.

2. Where are we going?• If no changes are made, where will the organization be in 5

years? What about 10 years?• Are the answers satisfactory? If not, what specific actions

must be taken to ensure change?

3. How will we get there?• Strategic planning is about doing things that fulfill the vision

you have for the organization• It is about goals and objectives and deciding what things

need to be done.

Developing A Strategic Plan

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Thinking StrategicallyAbout. . . About. . .

STRATEGIC PLANNINGSTRATEGIC PLANNING

In essence, strategic management is about growing toward Accomplishing your organizational goals.

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Strategic Thinking

Who are we and

who do we want to be?

What is our

driving force?

What

makes us

unique?What do we

do well?

What are our

strengths?

What do we

have to

offer

people?

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Focuses on finding and developing opportunities to create value, by encouraging creative dialogue among people who can affect a company’s direction.

Strategic thinking is a way of understanding the fundamental drivers of an organization, and challenging conventional thinking about them in constructive dialog.

Strategic Thinking

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Clarity of Purpose

Be clear about:

• Your organization’s mission• Your organization’s vision• Your organization’s values• Your customers

– Who your customers are.– What their needs are.– What value you add in meeting those needs.– What skills are required to add that value.

Note: These should all be articulated in the organization’s Mission Statement.

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.

Strategic planning is a process that reviews

market conditions, customer needs, competitive

strengths and weaknesses, sociopolitical, legal,

and economic conditions, technological

developments, and the availability of resources

to assist the organization in its planning

for opportunities or threats.

Strategic Planning

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What Strategic Planning InvolvesWhat Strategic Planning Involves

Six points to consider:

1. Understand the organization– What is our business?– What should it be?

2. Do you recognize a need to change?

3. Are you prepared for honest feedback even if it’s painful?

4. Are you willing to change the way you do business and change yourself?

5. Will you turn the plan into action?

6. Do you have the vision to lead your organization into uncharted waters?

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Operational Effectiveness vs. Strategy

Doing Things Right.

Doing the Right Things

Operational

Effectiveness:

Strategy:

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1. Planning strategically helps: – Focus talents and energies.– Assess and adjust direction in light of performance and a

changing environment.– Do a better job.

2. Being strategic is to be clear about objectives, resources and expected results, and combining these in response to the wider political context in the long and medium term.

Why is Strategic Planning Necessary?

Strategic planning is necessary to identify the organization’s objectives/priorities and the means by which they shall be achieved.

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The Strategic Planning Process

1. The strategic planning process asks managers to ask themselves what they want the future of their division, department, organization to be, or what they must do to ensure the desired future is achieved.

2. Managers involved in the process may influence it by providing information and suggestions in their areas of responsibility.

3. Managers must know the process and results since their own department’s objectives should be derived from the strategic plan.

Note: In high performance organizations, strategic planning neverends.

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Sustained superior performance should be

the goal of every organization!

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Poor trying to become

good?

In TheBox Of

Mediocrity?Soaring?

Faltering?

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Applying These Steps to Your Situation

1. Confront the brutal facts of your situation. Ask yourself the tough questions.

2. Is your department or organization meeting its business goals? Are revenues growing, flat, or declining? Is the organization profitable?

3. Is there clarity of purpose? Is the direction realistic? Be willing to make major changes.

4. Does the department or organization have a competitive advantage?

5. Does the department or organization have distinctive competencies in the skills critical for success?

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Putting Theory Into Practice1. Start by formulating the time-bound objectives of a program, activity,

or action (including identifying comparative advantages for the organization).

2. Establish clear relationships to the organizational strategic objectives (i.e. organization’s mission and vision).

3. Specify relationships of your programs or activities to the organization’s development goals.

4. Formulate expected results, together with indicators (especially where results are of a qualitative nature).

5. Formulate a strategy to attain objectives.

6. Specify the resources and inputs required (in terms of staff, external advice, and funds).

7. Specify extent of desirable extra budgetary support.

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Summary

In essence Strategic Thinking and Planning involve several factors:

Thinking long term Understanding the organization’s vision Understanding the organization’s mission Understanding the organization’s values Knowing who is going to do what Organizing for action Implementing strategy for action Evaluating progress Continuous improvement

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If an organization’s strategic plan is properly executed,

the scope, range, issues, and the time perspectives

will differ from department to department, but all plans will be derived

from the strategic plan and this will guide the achievement.

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Change

“It may be hard for an egg To turn into a bird.

It would be a jolly sight harder for it to learn to fly while remaining an egg.

We are like eggs at present,and you cannot go on indefinitelybeing just an ordinary decent egg.We must be hatched or go bad.”

--C.S. Lewis