The Powerful Simplicity of Strategic Planning & Focus
[Originally posted February 2026]
Strategic planning is a simple concept that should undergird all organizations. It may be a lost art.
Organizations of all types and sizes either completely ignore strategic planning, make the process monstrously complex, or make it irrelevant. Without an annual strategic plan to guide daily actions, an organization will always be reacting to whatever happens along the path of life. It does not have to be this way; but it requires effective leadership. Unexpected problems will occur and disrupt the best of plans, but proper strategic planning and a proper strategic focus help you decide what issues deserve limited organizational resources. Let’s look at a few common failures associated with strategic planning.
A strategic plan is NOT static. It has to be dynamic. It is not a vague political platform or some sort of silly and confusing diagram.
A strategic plan cannot become irrelevant. Effective organizations have regular meetings at all levels where the status of annual strategic objectives are discussed and managed. It requires effective leadership.
A Strategic plan should not be needlessly complex. The KISS (Keep It Simple Stupid) principle applies to strategic planning.
What should strategic planning look like?
It begins with a succinct Mission Statement that tells everyone what the organization does. It should be one sentence or maybe two at the most. Everyone in the organization should know the mission with clarity. It is the initial “litmus” test for everything that you do.
An organization’s values memorialized within a Statement of Principles is the second most important component of a strategic plan. These values are the lenses through which decisions are filtered. These principles define the character of the organization and should guide how you do what you do on a daily basis.
The next aspect to strategic planning is an annual SWOT analysis to identify and list internal Strengths & Weaknesses and Opportunities & Threats. This critical analysis is essential! WHEN you bring your team together annually, this is what an effective leader does.
Next, annual strategic objectives are created to address the annual SWOT analysis results considering the organization’s Mission and Principles. This is the simple not so secret key to successful leadership. The entire process must be collaborative! Edicts from above are usually riddled with blind spots.
With limited resources, you need to rank and prioritize proposed strategic objectives based upon an Enterprise Risk Management system. Each objective should be concise and SMART. Annual employee objectives must be aligned.
These are simple things that corporations and organizations often fail to do. There will be storms, but with strategic planning and focus, an organization can endure those storms.
“Where there is no vision, the people perish” Proverbs 29:18
