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Clearing Up The Myths About Strategic Thinking and Planning

Written by: Glenn Ebersole

Article Overview: I continue to be amazed at the amount of misinformation and the number of myths that exist about strategic thinking and planning. During my entire career, I have heard business owners, senior executives and not-for-profit board members and executive directors utter “mythical” statements about strategic thinking and planning. And I have observed that these same people truly believe that these myths are reality. My purpose in writing this article is to share what I believe are the 5 biggest myths and also provide some insights into what I believe are the 5 biggest “realities” of strategic thinking and planning.

Clearing Up The Myths About Strategic Thinking and Planning

Clearing Up The Myths About Strategic Thinking and Planning
By: J. Glenn Ebersole, Jr., Chief Executive of J. G. Ebersole Associates and The Renaissance Group™

I continue to be amazed at the amount of misinformation and the number of myths that exist about strategic thinking and planning. During my entire career, I have heard business owners, senior executives and not-for-profit board members and executive directors utter “mythical” statements about strategic thinking and planning. And I have observed that these same people truly believe that these myths are reality.

My purpose in writing this article is to share what I believe are the 5 biggest myths and also provide some insights into what I believe are the 5 biggest “realities” of strategic thinking and planning.

The #1 Myth: “Our company (organization) does not need a strategic plan.”
The #1 Reality: Every company and organization needs to develop strategic thinking and planning to guide its actions, especially in chaotic times.

The #2 Myth: “Strategic planning takes too much time and we must use our time to do our “real” work.”
The #2 Reality: By engaging in strategic thinking and planning, time will be saved and time will be used more efficiently and effectively. The effort will provide a system of accountability and evaluation of a company’s or organization’s effectiveness.

The #3 Myth: “A strategic plan is confidential.”
The #3 Reality: A copy of the strategic plan, which in my model includes vision and mission statements, a list of core values or guiding principles and lists of short term (less than 1 year) and long term (beyond 1 year) goals, MUST be presented and given to ALL employees.

The #4 Myth: “Strategic thinking & planning are events that only happen at retreats.”
The #4 Reality: Strategic thinking and planning are processes and need to be continuous.

The #5 Myth: “Our company (organization) can do everything on our own without any help in strategic thinking and planning.
The #5 Reality: “At best, it is extremely challenging and at worst is impossible to facilitate and participate in the same meeting. A trained facilitator is a very valuable asset and will resist the temptations to enter into the detailed tactical problem solving and go “off track” of the real purpose of the meeting.

Are you a believer in one or more of these myths about strategic thinking and planning? Or do you accept the realities? Please contact Glenn Ebersole at jgeprman@aol.com if you want to find out how to clear up the myths and get to the reality of the benefits of strategic thinking and planning to grow your business.

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