The title of this article is based upon a famous quotation by President Dwight Eisenhower in a speech given to the National Defense Executive Reserve Conference in Washington D.C on November 14, 1957.

This article is based upon a June 21, 2016 article “Strategic Plans are less important than Strategic Planning” by Graham Kenny in the Harvard business Review.

There are many similarities between military and business strategy. In Eisenhower’s speech he stated, “There is a very great distinction because when you are planning for an emergency you must start with this one thing: the very definition of “emergency” is that it is unexpected, therefore it is not going to happen the way you are planning.”

In the article, Kenny suggested that Eisenhower drew this premise from the 19th century German military strategist Helmuth Karl Berhard Graf von Moltke (also known as Molke the Elder) who revolutionized military strategy in directing battlefield deployments by developing a strategy of multiple options rather than simply a single plan. This approach revolutionized the rules of engagement by creating a flexible approach that could adjust with changes in a fluid battlefield situation. Moltke the Elder claimed that only “the commencement” of any battlefield engagement was plannable. He continued by saying “no plan of operation extends with certainty beyond the first encounter with the enemy’s main strength.”

Winston Churchill in his later years stated “plans are of little importance, but planning is essential.”

In his article Kenny states “Like military strategy, business strategy is developed and applied in a fluid, unpredictable environment, and the distinction that Moltke, Churchill and Eisenhower draw between planning and the plan is very pertinent for senior executives charged with crafting a company’s strategy.”

Kenny went further by recommending that business executives re-think the way that they pursue the strategic planning process and he offered the following guidance which I have provided the following direct verbatim content and excerpts from his article:

1. Think of the Plan as a Guidance Tool

The problem for many managers is that their expectations are all skewed from what can be realistically achieved via a strategic plan. Their image is more of the house-plan type or travel itinerary. They anticipate that by doing the necessary analysis and writing down how their business will succeed the world will be converted from uncertain to certain. In their eyes the strategic plan becomes a device for control rather than one of guidance.

2. Look for Disagreements and Toward the Future

Even though your plan is liable to become immediately irrelevant, you still need to invest in writing it up. Why? There are two reasons. The first is to surface disagreements that may otherwise remain hidden. You can have all the discussions you like with your fellow staff and think that your management team is in agreement, until you actually distill these discussions in a written document that people have to sign off on. It’s in the crafting of your organization’s position that you realize that, well no, we’re not all on the same page. The second reason is that it provides a platform from which change can be leveraged. This line-in-the-sand concept may seem paradoxical but the very process of preparing the plan has you thinking about the future and assembling resources.

3. Focus on the organization and Key Stakeholders, not individual action Items

A plan can’t be “strategic” if it’s simply about action by individuals. While action is fundamental to implementation and success, there’s another level above that — the organization level. In my experience most managers, operating as they do inside their organization, aren’t fully cognizant of this important distinction. This can have them launching prematurely into who, what and when or, at the very least, unconsciously crisscrossing between the organization and individual levels. Business strategy operates at the corporate level while action functions at the individual level. Remain aware of this underlying logic and keep a firm focus on your organization and its relations with its key stakeholders. Develop business strategy for each stakeholder in turn but also acknowledge the causal link between them.

4. Assume the Plan is a Work-In-Progress

A strategic plan is not a set-and-forget instrument. It’s a living and breathing document that guides decision making and helps marshal resources. When managers talk about “giving up on strategic planning” I suggest that they haven’t thought through how to keep their plan fresh. The fact that circumstances are changing rapidly is a very good reason to visit their plan regularly. How regularly? This varies by industry, of course, but my general recommendation to most clients is monthly. Your executive committee may meet more frequently, perhaps weekly, so put aside the first meeting of each month for a plan review. This allows you to not only update the document due to changed conditions but to also go through the actions that were scheduled for completion as part of the execution process. Make your agenda item “progress against strategic plan.”

In closing, Kenny did not suggest that you shouldn’t have a plan to start with. He was suggesting that the “plan itself and the planners needed to be flexible because it generates preparedness.” He continued by saying that Moltke, Eisenhower and Churchill even in their eras understood “…. the world does not stand still while we plan.” They also “appreciated the importance of planning’s role in preparing for change.” Kenny concluded by saying that “Your strategic plan is an essential device in navigating disruptions headwinds.”

It is January. Where are you in the planning process and developing your plan for 2017? We can help.

Benjamin Franklin once was famously quoted:

“If you fail to plan, you are planning to fail.”

If you have any comments on this article or wish to discuss this topic further, please do not hesitate to contact me at dan@mchenryconsulting.net.

Sources:

Note: Most of this article was taken directly and is exact content from the content of the following links.
https://hbr.org/2016/06/strategic-plans-are-less-important-than-strategi…