Strategic Planning for 2021

December 1, 2020
|In Article
|By lawrenceandco

In this very interesting year, many companies are thriving while others are hurting – and everyone is wondering what the heck will happen in 2021.

Having a great plan for your business for short, long and medium term is always important, and most companies we work with are appreciating their plans, more than ever. But as one CEO recently said, as we look forward, we need to make sure we look at our business with fresh eyes and blank-page thinking, so that we don’t get lost in the logic of past plans.

We need eyes-wide-open thinking from 30,000 feet, to be prepared for whatever 2021, 2022 and 2023 bring.

Look from Different Perspectives

One of the most important activities in strategic planning is to go back and spend time on the strategic part of planning. One of our clients, in another part of the world, has asked us to do a series of three-hour workshops on different strategic frameworks, so they can think through and crystallize what matters most, from different perspectives.

Some people like to consider strategic questions that we can brainstorm around. Others like to use models like Porter’s 5 Forces, Collins’ Flywheel, Blue Ocean Strategy or Strategy Map. The key is to have a set of tools that you use to frame your strategic medium- to long-term thinking about how you’re going to win in your market. And you need to treat them as principles to guide shorter-term thinking, which then guides the individual goals and activities of all your team members, on a monthly, weekly and daily basis.

Take the Time

The challenge is that most leaders are so caught up in the day-to-day, they never seem to get to working on strategy – when they know they need to.

One CEO has time with his strategic thought partner, every week, but they always get stuck in short-term operational issues. He’s now going to set aside time, out of the office for a couple hours at a time, to really soak into the strategic thinking and looking-ahead.

The Challenge

  • What do you need to do to carve out strategic planning time for you and your team?
  • What do you need to get clarity a decision on before the New Year?
  • What are you going to continue to spend time on this throughout the year?

Do you want expert help?

We have four experienced core team members – all competent in strategic thinking and execution planning frameworks – and a network of other great advisors, around the world.

This is what we do all day, almost every day, and so if you are looking for:

  • A strategic thought partner or
  • Someone to guide you and your team through the strategic thinking and/or execution planning process or
  • Someone you can commit a block of time to, who knows frameworks, so can ensure you make this a priority…

…let us know.

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