The Problem with Strategic Planning — And the Alternative

The strategic planning ritual is an exercise rooted in mythology and superstition. The mythology is that this exercise explains why some organizations outperform others. The superstition is that doing so would make us a member of the esteemed outperformer cohort.

The essential problem with strategic plans is that they are often flawed plans. Flawed plans are plans based on assumptions.

The language of assumptions is the language of best guesses, intuitions, hunches, speculations, and hypotheses. We give assumptions the illusion of predictable certainties by arguing for the predictive reliability of data. This practice is based on the underpinning assumption that the future will be an extension of past and present patterns.

As too many organizations know from experience, this isn’t even true in a relatively stable world much less one where uncertainty is a constant norm.

So this creates a quandary. Do we continue to hope our data is a reliable predictor of the future or do we simply base our future on our best guesses?

In a flawed planning world, these seem to be our two options. Both lead to the reality that the vast majority of strategic plans fail or are quickly shelved for unreliability. In the worst cases, people call flawed operational plans “strategic” and hope no one notices or questions it.

In flawless planning, no such quandary is possible because we’re working from questions rather than assumptions. We compose multiple scenarios and turn uncertainties into questions, and through action, we turn questions into answers. This process makes it possible for us to create the future we want to see.

Where in flawed planning, uncertainties are barriers to success, in flawless planning, uncertainties are assets in our success.

In flawless planning, we still consider all the available data and assumptions we have. These become optimal resources for forming new questions that move us forward in the direction of being our best in future scenarios. Being our best is the hallmark success indicator in flawless planning.

One reason people love flawless planning is because everyone can be engaged in raising and answering new questions through actions. People easily get and stay on the same page when they’re not divided into arguing about assumptions. People enjoy being productive from beginning to end.

Flawless planning is designed for scale. It can happen in short or long range planning, meaning planning at the operational or project level or planning out multiple years, even decades. When people ask if a flawless long range plan is “strategic,” our promise is simply that it is flawless and long range. They might prefer that to the alternative of flawed planning at any scale.

For more about Flawless Planning, visit FlawlessPlanning.org. The Flawless Planning model is an open source model under the Creative Commons license: Flawless Planning © 2023 by Jack Ricchiuto is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0

Join us for the online Flawless Planning Webinars on 1.24.24 and 1.31.24.