{"id":3808,"date":"2014-04-24T21:45:34","date_gmt":"2014-04-25T02:45:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.scottcochrane.com\/?p=3808"},"modified":"2014-04-24T21:45:34","modified_gmt":"2014-04-25T02:45:34","slug":"how-to-turn-your-plan-from-an-afterthought-into-an-engine","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/scottcochrane.com\/index.php\/2014\/04\/24\/how-to-turn-your-plan-from-an-afterthought-into-an-engine\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Turn Your Plan from an After-Thought into an Engine"},"content":{"rendered":"

Originally posted January 27, 2014<\/em><\/h1>\n
\n

<\/em>Is your strategic plan an abandoned after-thought or an energizing engine?<\/strong><\/p>\n

A well-executed plan can be the engine that drives your organization forward, creating energy, focus and momentum.<\/strong><\/p>\n

But often it can simply become a forgotten after-thought, just collecting dust on a shelf.<\/strong><\/p>\n

So how do you turn your plan from an after-thought into an engine?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Years ago a leadership mentor taught me a simple yet profoundly effective tool to keep an organization aligned with its plan.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a matrix that looks at each opportunity or idea and asks two basic questions:<\/p>\n

Is this on plan?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Does this add value?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Take every proposed strategy or opportunity and see where it fits in this grid.<\/p>\n

Box 1: Not on Plan and Adds no Value<\/strong><\/p>\n

It\u2019s amazing how many organizations entertain ideas that are neither on plan nor which add any relevant value.<\/p>\n

An example might be an opportunity for you to do a series of lectures for an outside organization.<\/p>\n

Opportunities like this can be tempting, but leaders need the discipline to give them a wide berth.<\/p>\n

Box 2: Not on Plan but Adds Value<\/strong><\/p>\n

This is a seductive box.<\/p>\n

This represents opportunities that seem to be a good thing for the organization, but you didn\u2019t plan for them. Unrestrained pursuit of such opportunities can leave the organization feeling rudderless and unfocused.<\/p>\n

Leaders need the discernment to know when to leap at such an opportunity and the discipline not to abandon the plan each time such an opportunity comes along.<\/p>\n

Box 3: On Plan but Adds no Value<\/strong><\/p>\n

Sometimes you\u2019ll find that even an opportunity that fits under the umbrella of your plan turns out to be of limited value.<\/p>\n

Have the discernment and courage to recognize elements of the plan that just aren\u2019t pushing the ball down the field.<\/p>\n

Box 4: On Plan and Adds Value<\/strong><\/p>\n

This is the sweet spot.<\/p>\n

Relentlessly pursue opportunities that are in the center of your plan and which add tremendous value to what you\u2019re trying to accomplish.<\/p>\n

Bottom line; if an opportunity or idea is on plan and adds value, go for it. Otherwise, have the discipline to set it aside.<\/p>\n

In doing so your plan can indeed shift from being an after-thought to being a powerful engine.<\/p>\n

How do you keep focused on the plan?<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Originally posted January 27, 2014 Is your strategic plan an abandoned after-thought or an energizing engine? A well-executed plan can be the engine that drives your organization forward, creating energy, focus and momentum. But often it can simply become a forgotten after-thought, just collecting dust on a shelf. So how do you turn your plan…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_bbp_topic_count":0,"_bbp_reply_count":0,"_bbp_total_topic_count":0,"_bbp_total_reply_count":0,"_bbp_voice_count":0,"_bbp_anonymous_reply_count":0,"_bbp_topic_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_reply_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_forum_subforum_count":0,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[738,478,7,777,580,705],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3808","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-effectiveness-2","category-featured","category-leadership","category-metrics-2","category-results-2","category-strategy-2"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/scottcochrane.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3808","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/scottcochrane.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/scottcochrane.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scottcochrane.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scottcochrane.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3808"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/scottcochrane.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3808\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3811,"href":"https:\/\/scottcochrane.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3808\/revisions\/3811"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/scottcochrane.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3808"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scottcochrane.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3808"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scottcochrane.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3808"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}