Mistakes in Strategic Planning

I recently was part of a strategic planning process in a small organization — a process that was, in this instance, painful and prolonged. The organization had difficulties relating to the outside consultants used at the beginning of the process, and then we tried to do it all on our own. We did finally come up with useful goals — but could we have done better? Or done it with less time, less chaos?

Dave Taylor, on The Intuitive Life Business Blog, has posted this very helpful list of commonly-believed myths about strategic planning in smaller organizations: Ten Dangerous Myths About Strategic Planning

I’m still wondering, after that particular prolonged and painful planning process, why the group and the consultants had difficulties working together. Was it because the consultants were the wrong consultants for that job? Did they misunderstood the our organizational culture or miscalculate our competence with strategic planning? Was it that we resisted the outside help because we did not accept that the views of outsiders might be of equal value to our own perceptions?

These strategic planning myths that are not only commonly believed — they’re commonly practiced. Much too commonly. I invite you to share your own stories of practicing the myths of strategic planning in the comments section of this post.