{"id":7140,"date":"2021-02-15T20:43:03","date_gmt":"2021-02-16T02:43:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.scottcochrane.com\/?p=7140"},"modified":"2021-02-15T20:43:03","modified_gmt":"2021-02-16T02:43:03","slug":"at-last-a-simple-way-to-bring-your-strategic-plan-to-life","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/scottcochrane.com\/index.php\/2021\/02\/15\/at-last-a-simple-way-to-bring-your-strategic-plan-to-life\/","title":{"rendered":"At Last, A Simple Way To Bring Your Strategic Plan to Life"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Your strategic plan is either an after-thought, or it’s a decision-driver.<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n

And turning your plan from an after-thought to a decision-driver can be the difference between leading an organization that’s stalled, to one that is gaining momentum.<\/strong><\/p>\n

So how do you do it?<\/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><\/h3>\n

Does this add value?<\/strong><\/h3>\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><\/h3>\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><\/h3>\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><\/h3>\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><\/h3>\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 the powerful decision-maker you’ve always wanted it to be.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Your strategic plan is either an after-thought, or it’s a decision-driver. And turning your plan from an after-thought to a decision-driver can be the difference between leading an organization that’s stalled, to one that is gaining momentum. So how do you do it? Years ago a leadership mentor taught me a simple yet profoundly effective…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":6753,"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":[1017,769,1018,738,478,7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7140","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-communication","category-culture-2","category-decisions","category-effectiveness-2","category-featured","category-leadership"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/scottcochrane.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7140","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=7140"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/scottcochrane.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7140\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7147,"href":"https:\/\/scottcochrane.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7140\/revisions\/7147"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scottcochrane.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6753"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/scottcochrane.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7140"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scottcochrane.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7140"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scottcochrane.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7140"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}