Five Ways to Overcome Cynicism About Strategic Planning

The best way to overcome cynicism about strategic planning is to avoid manipulating the participants to achieve a predetermined outcome. However, assuming your intentions are good, here are five ways to stop cynicism from creeping in and strangling the process.

1.  Start by reviewing the old plan

Good, bad or ugly, surely the old plan deserves review. Nothing creates cynicism faster than a legacy of plans considered so irrelevant that no one refers to them when starting a new planning cycle. Review the old plan so its best parts can be woven into the new fabric of the organization, and your group can acknowledge progress or how things have changed.

2.  Involve the right people, wearing the right hat

A planning group or staff should not develop the plan in isolation, even if this seems highly efficient.  It’s a killer when a group without authority devotes itself creating the perfect plan – and then are overruled by others with different information. Likewise, the Board should not develop a strategic plan without employee and expert input. By sharing perspectives as the plan develops, Board members and employees will experience less of the failure and disappointment that breed cynicism.

Participants must be clear about the role they are expected to play in planning. For example, are Board members representing the membership as a whole, their region, their sector or their sponsoring organization?

3.  Keep the process open and transparent

Create a safe environment for speaking up, where all participants are listened to with an open mind, and the results will be more trust inspiring. Planning sessions can be sometimes be intimidating for new Board members, new employees or those people who are generally expected to be quiet when the Board meets. Remember that innovation and great ideas can come from all levels and often start with a spark from an “outsider”.

Clarity with the process will help to curtail disillusionment. In all meetings, be clear about whether you are looking for ideas or decisions, so participants have accurate expectations about what will be done with their input. If you are making decisions, be clear about whether you want to proceed by consensus, and make sure you define it. Does it mean unanimity or an agreement that everyone can live with even if some aren’t thrilled? 

Consider using an independent facilitator to run the initial planning meetings, to avoid the appearance or practice of foregone conclusions. It’s hard for an internal facilitator to remain neutral when the organization’s future is being discussed. (And don’t get cynical just because I am, in fact, an independent facilitator – there are plenty of meetings at which you won’t need outside facilitation – meetings with lots of information and reports, routine decisions, and little controversy.)

4.  Communicate the results in a straightforward, meaningful way

Produce meeting notes and keep them on record, so people are able to refer to the discussion and thinking behind the new direction. You’ll keep the outcomes from being reinterpreted, and have a stronger final plan.

Beware of “spin”.  Mission, vision and values statements should reflect the truth of your organization. Yes, they may have a secondary function as marketing tools – for members, sponsors, potential employees – but they won’t be effective or believable unless they are truly lived. So forget the lip service to ideals you don’t espouse. Otherwise, staff and members may discard the entire plan with a roll of the eyes.

5.  Implement the plan!

Keep the plan visible and report on it frequently. The final plan cannot be secret, because its credibility hinges on follow-through at all levels in the organization. There is no need for excessive detail, but it must serve as a working guide for ongoing priority setting.

 No one respects new strategies when the old ones are easily discarded. So deal honestly with revisions when circumstances change, instead of sweeping the whole plan under the carpet.

The pay-offs

The pay-offs for a plan that people truly believe are well worth it:

• greater employee motivation and greater Board satisfaction

• faster, more efficient implementation

• less time and resources wasted on projects that don’t align with strategic directions

• and more effective leadership.

In other words, it’s well worth the effort!

Jane Logan is the president of Logan Strategy Inc. based in Ottawa.  She is a bilingual certified facilitator.