Strategy Journeys ─ A Guide to Effective Strategic Planning

Strategic planning suffers from several perceptions: it can be seen as complex, technical, remote from the day-to-day reality of an organisation, undertaken by an elite specialist executive group, producing threatening changes whose rationale is barely understood - or, perhaps worse, having no worthwhile impact at all. For many senior executives, strategic planning is too daunting a task, which is why they often seek help from those with the expertise to guide the process: they have a severe lack of confidence in their own ability to design, plan and implement such an important and major project. Yet organisations have never had greater need for a flexible, resilient and engaging approach to strategic planning than now. How do those leading an organisation know where to start, what approach to take and how to go about the process of strategic planning? This book aims to help them, by demystifying the concept and propounding a ’first principles’ approach to developing a strategic plan within the context of the individual organisation, and the flexibility to adapt the process to focus on what really matters to the organisation. It suggests some of the questions that should be asked when considering embarking on a strategic planning ’journey’ to help design and guide the process. The book draws on the author’s experience of helping organisations develop effective strategic plans over the past 20 years, including all aspects from strategy development to planning to implementation, and covering both process and content. This has been informed by an enthusiasm for continuing professional development and broad learning, and reinforced by a commitment to client feedback and reflective practice.

The author has over 20 years business management experience working for companies such as United Biscuits, Grand Metropolitan and Smith & Nephew, in marketing then HR and strategic development at senior management level, followed by working for the past 12 years as an independent management consultant helping organisations with their ’strategy journeys’: clients include a range of large and medium-sized organisations from international financial services companies to specialist NHS Foundation Trusts. These projects have involved working intensively with client organisations, guiding and complementing their internal knowledge and resources to help steer their strategic planning processes and develop effective strategic plans: there has been a strong emphasis on organisational learning, and clients have remarked on the continuing value and relevance of the work.