Strategic planning too often states good intentions rather than practical ways the organization can change and how individuals can change that behavior. Again, we must ask questions: Do we set organizational growth goals or do we assign specific individual responsibilities? Do we make statements about coaching people or do we name partners who will act as coaches? Are we willing to write names next to each goal? What happens when goals are not reached? What are the mechanisms of accountability?
From Big Words To The Real World
Visions, missions and strategies are the foundations of an organization. They help guide our firms and provide much needed answers when the circumstances and decisions are unclear. To be effective, though, all those statements have to be grounded in the practical reality of our firms. They have to answer the questions that keep people—the clients, the owners and the team—awake at night. Most of the time, those questions are well-known. But they are also difficult.
I grew up in a communist country, and you could say that I have a special appreciation for propaganda. If you think the Soviet slogans were very far from the statements produced by advisory firms, try this: “Having the right talent means everything.”—Joseph Stalin. Empty words disguising reality is nothing new, but it was never the solution and it is certainly not doing anything positive for advisory firms.
They say that the last slogan produced by the Soviet propaganda machine was, “Down with slogans!”
Philip Palaveev is the CEO of the Ensemble Practice LLC. He’s an industry consultant, author of the books G2: Building the Next Generation and The Ensemble Practice and the lead faculty member for the G2 Institute.