William Millen’s Post

Understanding your organization's current position is essential in strategic planning. An organizational assessment is vital in this process, acting as a compass to inform and direct your strategic planning journey.  #strategicplanning #strategy #bcorp https://lnkd.in/dmdEhthc

Looking to stay ahead of the game in 2024 and beyond? As a CEO, strategic planning is crucial for success. To sharpen your competencies, focus on these three key areas: #SmallBusiness, #StrategicPlanning, and #Competencies.

Corporate strategy is essential for sustained success in today's complex business environment. This insightful article from the MIT Sloan Management Review, 'Four Logics of Corporate Strategy,' provides a compelling framework for leaders to understand and implement various strategic approaches.

The creation of an effective plan is an art as much as it is a science. At Sundial Learning Systems, we take our organizations through a rather thoughtful and substantive-based strategic planning process that is more than superficial. Our approach is truly cognizant of the wisdom of strategic experts like Eliot Cohen, who defined strategy as the "art of choice that binds means with objectives." With over three decades of experience, we know that strategic planning is more than operational tactics; it's about making conscious choices that define priorities, align resources, and position organizations for success. Our 7-Phase Strategic Planning Process prepares leaders to pivot through disruption, capitalize on the opportunity, and execute plans that finally stick. We prepare every component of your strategic plan to be actionable and ready for the future, from deep environmental scans and market analyses to facilitating interactive planning workshops. We believe in practical execution through clear timelines, aligned resources, and leadership teams committed to success. Our facilitated sessions at Sundial encourage strategic thinking, foster a sense of ownership, and crystallize insights into actionable strategies. Using tools such as P.E.S.T. Analysis, Porter's Five Forces, and the TOWS Matrix, we draw a road map to sustainable growth supported by sound analysis and collaborative innovation. We believe that strategy is not only having a plan but also adapting, thriving, and becoming resilient in a continuously changing environment. Whether you are ready to make the idea a reality or set an organization on its path to enduring greatness, we can take this journey together. Success is not a destination; it is a bunch of well-executed steps. Are you ready to take the first one? https://lnkd.in/eDG49a9u

"True strategy is about placing bets and making hard choices. The objective is not to eliminate risk but to increase the odds of success. In this worldview, managers accept that good strategy is not the product of hours of careful research and modeling that lead to an inevitable and almost perfect conclusion. Instead, it’s the result of a simple and quite rough-and-ready process of thinking through what it would take to achieve what you want and then assessing whether it’s realistic to try. If executives adopt this definition, then maybe, just maybe, they can keep strategy where it should be: outside the comfort zone." - Roger Martin, former dean of Rotman School of Management Full article here: https://lnkd.in/e4EwQsCA

Strategic planning is essential for guiding organizations through complexities and seizing opportunities. It involves vision, analysis, and adaptive leadership. Embracing change and leveraging technology are vital for success. Looking ahead, remaining proactive and adaptable is crucial amid evolving challenges. Strategic planning is both a process and an art, requiring creativity and foresight. By fostering a culture of innovation, organizations can navigate uncertainties and shape a resilient future. Let us embark on this journey, embracing challenges as opportunities for growth and innovation in a dynamic business landscape.

Looking to stay ahead of the game? Strategic planning is crucial for CEOs looking at 2024 and beyond. Sharpen your competencies by focusing on these three key areas.

There's good strategy and there's bad strategy. Which is yours? The image you see here is The School Of Athens, a famous fresco painted by Italian Renaissance artist Raphael in the early 1500s. The two figures you see at the top centre of the picture are Aristotle and Plato. Aristotle is the younger looking figure of the two, wearing the blue robe. Aristotle famously defined two kinds of problem in the world, and two approaches to solving these kinds of problems. The first being simple problems, where although the answer may require complicated tools and scientific methods, there is a correct answer to be found. Examples of "simple" problems include: What is your blood type? or How far is it from here to the moon?  With the right tools and instruments, answers to these questions can be found. Aristotle also defined a second kind of problem as complex problems, where there is no one correct answer, but rather a range of possible options to choose from. These kinds of problems are also now termed "wicked" problems in our modern era. Examples of wicked problems include: What should we have for dinner tonight? or Should Indonesia be governed by a democracy? or What should our business strategy focus on for the next 12 months? Even the question regarding dinner choice fits in the category of wicked problems, because there are a range of possible solutions to choose from, not just one.  The tools Aristotle recommended to solve wicked or complex problems were conversation and dialogue. In our modern organisations, this means getting the right people in the room to have a productive dialogue that leads to making decisions on the best of the available options, then moving forward with a committed plan of action. This is exactly the essence of good business strategy. In over 20 years of consulting to businesses across all major industries, I've seen organisations who run effective strategic planning processes, as well as those who do it very poorly. For effective strategic planning, you need to understand how to take a leadership team through the four key spaces of good strategy, which are: Now, Future, Options, Action. And most leaders don't. Just knowing what the four spaces are doesn't make someone a great facilitator of a strategic conversation. A good strategic planning conversation will clarify your top strategic priorities over the next 12 months (usually 3-5 priorities at most), as well as building a practical action plan and business systems to ensure your strategy comes to life every day at all levels of your organisation (not an easy task). You have the opportunity here to start this process with an initial free live assessment session with me to determine where your business is at regarding strategic planning and implementation. To book in for this free assessment conversation, click on the link in the comment thread.   I look forward to diving deep with you. 

Looking to stay ahead of the game? Strategic planning is crucial for CEOs as we look through 2024 and beyond. To sharpen your competencies, focus on these three key areas: #SmallBusiness #StrategicPlanning #Competencies

Most leaders know they need a strategic plan. But few know where to start. It often appears complicated and time consuming - especially when consultants get involved (not to mention the $$$ tens of thousands). That's why we've developed the practical and easy to follow Impact Society Strategic Planning Toolkit. The toolkit helps leaders define what success looks like and how it will be achieved. And create strategic clarity within their organisation or team. It does this with a practical and easy to follow planning process that only takes a few weeks. It takes an 80/20 approach to strategic planning: guiding you through the vital few things that make all the difference. Without getting bogged down in the things that don't. The toolkit comes with: - A simple 130+ page, beautifully-designed guidebook that sets out the process - 15+ templates, including agenda, e-mail, meeting invite, PowerPoint, checklist, communication plan and strategic analysis templates It's designed to support CEOs, team managers, entrepreneurs and strategy professionals. And doesn't require any specialist training or strategic planning experience. Use it for whole organisations or individual teams. And for businesses, not for profits, government bodies and community organisations. If you want to create a straightforward and easy to follow strategic plan for your organisation or team, our Strategic Planning Toolkit will show you how to. Download a free preview here: https://buff.ly/3WFchOy