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Does Your Strategic Planning Process Suffer From ADD?

Guest post by: Joe Evans

Article Overview: n the psychological world, ADD (attention deficit disorder) is diagnosed when an individual meets certain criteria for hyperactivity, impulsivity, or inattention. Likewise, in the corporate world, organizations can exhibit ADD-like behavior when they mistake activity for effectiveness; when they lose focus on established objectives; and when they respond haphazardly to environmental changes.

Does Your Strategic Planning Process Suffer From ADD?

In the psychological world, ADD (attention deficit disorder) is diagnosed when an individual meets certain criteria for hyperactivity, impulsivity, or inattention. Likewise, in the corporate world, organizations can exhibit ADD-like behavior when they mistake activity for effectiveness; when they lose focus on established objectives; and when they respond haphazardly to environmental changes.

Many well-meaning managers and leaders assume that because members of the organization are “active” that they are also “effective.” In reality, activity does not equal effectiveness; and it’s not representative of indispensability. Rather, effectiveness is the result of “doing the right things, right”. And the right things are those activities and actions that make organizational goals a reality.

So how can you evaluate, plan, prioritize, and make actionable the activities that will add true value to the organization? And how do you avoid falling victim to corporate ADD?

Bring Energy and Focus Back to Corporate Planning

A 2003 MIT Sloan study identified four corporate energy zones that can either stimulate or handicap competitiveness. This in-depth study proved that organizational energy and focus is a critical component to success.

Some key points that arose from the MIT study are worth considering:

• After more than 50 years of largely ignoring soft factors, like emotions and feelings, organizations are recognizing the powerful role that emotions play in shaping corporate behavior.
• Corporate leaders are responsible for unleashing organizational energy and guiding it toward key strategic goals.
• Organizational energy is the combination of the company’s emotional, cognitive, and physical states. While difficult to measure, organizational energy is evident in the intensity, endurance, and innovation processes of a company’s work.
• Individual energy, especially of leaders, influences organizational energy. Likewise, the energy state of the organization affects the energy of individuals.
• It is the intersection of intensity and quality that determines an organization's energy state, which usually falls into one of four categories – “The Four Energy Zones.”

“The Four Energy Zones”

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Article Tags: attention deficit disorder, psychological world, strategic planning process
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