New Perspectives

On Top of the Curve:
Accelerated Business Planning
by Tony Jeary

Somebody once told me, "I'd rather eat nails than make a plan or set goals!" Over the years, I've noticed that many people share this sentiment about planning and goal-setting. I think the reason many people emotionally resist planning is because they think it takes too long and takes too much effort, and the plan frequently winds up in a file cabinet. Virtually every business in America has some kind of plan in a file somewhere that was not executed.

The speed of business today demands that our planning processes happen fast, yet produce the same level of results. If we spend weeks or months in the planning process, our competition will gallop past us and we'll be choking on their dust. I think the truth of this is obvious, and every business leader today understands the need for speed. The central dilemma is not about understanding the need; it's about discovering practical, effective processes and tools to make it happen.

If your experience with problem-solving and planning is that lots of time is required to be successful, the concept of Accelerated Business Planning may be hard to get your mind around. But if you really understand the core dynamics of creating effective solutions, it then becomes clear. This article presents five core concepts that can change your entire perception of planning, increase your speed and allow you to operate more in the mastery level.

Five Steps to Accelerated Business Planning

Step 1: Create the Right Planning Environment (People and Place)

Use a Professional Facilitator

Many planning projects take too much time because leadership tries to facilitate the planning functions internally. The project gets assigned to someone to "manage," and the planning process turns into a complicated web of meetings, e-mail messages and documents that have to be compiled and analyzed. The entire planning effort becomes somewhat bureaucratic as it goes on and on and on.

Using an independent professional facilitator is the first step toward reducing the time it takes to produce a solid plan. A great facilitator is not going to become embroiled in issues that don't matter, and can keep the planning group on track and focused on the real issues.

Engage the Right People

The planning group must be made up of the right people. The group must be made up of people the facilitator can synergize to create a blend of strategic vision and tactical expertise. That facilitated combination will result in the ability to focus on the specific action required to move the enterprise from current conditions to solution.

Consider the Planning Facility

I've been facilitating strategic planning events for more than 20 years and have learned that the right kind of planning facility has a direct impact on the speed and effectiveness of the planning activity. I believe in this so strongly that I built a Strategic Facilitation Studio in which my facilitation sessions are conducted. My Strategic Acceleration facility is high-tech and contains every conceivable resource my customers may need during a planning session.

Over the years I've had the most senior people of such companies as Samsung, Firestone, New York Life and Wal-Mart in my studio. They recognized the importance of planning in a facility completely dedicated to and designed for it.

While my studio is unique and the resources available are extensive, I believe every business should either build or obtain access to some space solely dedicated to brainstorming, planning and facilitation activities.

Step 2: Objective Identification of Current Conditions

An effective planning process should begin with objectively identifying and understanding current conditions. Specific questions must be answered to establish the launch point for the plan. The key elements of understanding are:

• The good things going for the enterprise. What has contributed to past and current success? (What needs to be continued?)
• What areas need to be improved to enable execution of the vision or plan? (Issues)
• What new opportunities exist right now, based on market, people, products or services?
• What external threats exist that could derail success?
• What needs to be changed to produce success?
• What does the enterprise need to do more of?
• What does the enterprise need to do less of?

Step 3: Identify Images of Influence

What we stand for and how we want to be perceived (internally and externally) is a huge strategic step in the planning process, but unfortunately it's usually omitted. When the planning group is forced to focus on these desired perceptions, they also shape certain actions that must be taken to produce the image. I call these perceptions Images of Influence because they have a direct impact on the results we can expect. People take action based on their perceptions. The planning process must deal with this.

Step 4: Develop Specific Areas of Focus

If we do not have focus-if organizations do not grasp the main things required of them-then decision-making becomes difficult, awkward and mushy. Bureaucracy grows to cover up this cancer, and when bureaucracy matures, a culture of indecisiveness is born. At that point, focus becomes difficult to achieve.

There is a gap that must be crossed between current conditions and the ultimate vision. Focus is achieved when the critical success factors needed to propel us across the gap are identified and understood. In other words, we become able to identify the main things that must be done to propel us across the gap. Focus is the ability to keep those main things the main thing as we go. The ability to achieve focus is the result of Steps 1 through 3 of the Accelerated Business Planning process.

Step 5: Create Action and Ownership

The final step in Accelerated Business Planning is to create specific action steps and ownership for those steps. Make sure you know who is going to be doing what and when. Accountability is frequently missing from planning projects, and that is why they wind up in file cabinets. Action and ownership come from synergizing the five steps I have presented because they ensure buy-in and support for the plan.

What You Can Expect

The process of Accelerated Business Planning will produce results within timeframes that exceed normal expectations. I know this is true because I have been deploying this process for the past 20 years, with indisputable results. The benefits you can expect from this process are very specific, and I'll close by briefly describing the most obvious benefits.

A Real Difference

The most significant difference will be evident in your ability to compete in the marketplace more effectively. You'll be able to organizationally articulate your value and competitive advantage to prospective customers in a superior fashion and capture the kinds of opportunities you seek in your strategic initiatives. You'll achieve organizational unity regarding your vision, which will significantly advance your strategic execution capabilities.

Enhanced Abilities

You'll be able to more clearly present your product offering with respect to value. As that develops, you'll be in a position to be viewed as a strategic partner with your major customers and your field. I also believe your organizational ability to execute and deliver will be significantly enhanced because your team will have greater clarity and focus about your vision and their responsibilities for action.

High Return on Investment and Effort

There will be a dramatic impact on your revenues. Your growth objectives will transition from being goals to actual milestones of achievement. This will be caused by a more unified and competent business development team and a more strategic product offering as you market and sell on the basis of value as well as price.

Organizational Unity

The plans you develop will have a unifying effect on your organization. When people perceive enhanced Clarity and Focus about their direction they become more energized and work together more effectively. All things cascade through an organization more clearly.

Accelerated Business Planning is the right process for today's global business climate because growth and success are determined by two organizational needs. The first is the need for speed. The second is the need for results. Speed is the strategic engine needed to compete and win in a rapidly changing marketplace. Results determine the ability of leadership to execute and sustain a vision in the marketplace.

In closing, there are three enemies of speed and results:

• Absence of clarity
• Lack of focus
• Poor execution

The absence of clarity drains organizational energy. Lack of focus produces a culture of indecisiveness and excessive preparation. Poor execution degrades effectiveness, limits results and restricts growth.

These enemies of speed and results are overcome by the five-step process of Accelerated Business Planning.

Tony Jeary-Strategic Accelerator and Coach to the world's top CEOs-helps to uniquely facilitate strategic effectiveness and operational mastery at the top of the curve in organizations across the world, through his many books, inspirational presentations and by personal facilitation in his unique Success Studio. For information on booking, info@tonyjeary.com, or visit his Web site, www.tonyjeary.com.

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