Companies without a strategic plan have one foot in the grave, whether they know it or not. Yet, very few small and mid-size companies (SMBs) emphasize strategic planning. Why are so many of these companies strategically challenged, strategically averse? 1. Fear of the past. Company leaders may have had nightmarish experiences with strategic planning. Maybe they remember consultants that were brought in and nearly ruined the firm. Maybe they spent weeks in meetings without accomplishing a single thing. Maybe they launched grandiose programs only to have them fizzle out within months. Understandably, they don’t want to repeat a disaster.1. Fear of the past. Company leaders may have had nightmarish experiences with strategic planning. Maybe they remember consultants that were brought in and nearly ruined the firm. Maybe they spent weeks in meetings without accomplishing a single thing. Maybe they launched grandiose programs only to have them fizzle out within months. Understandably, they don’t want to repeat a disaster.
2. Fear of the present. Many SMBs are understaffed and overtaxed. Leadership is simply too busy putting out fires and managing day-to-day activities to focus on long-term thinking. Deep down, they fear that if they divert time to planning, the business will fall apart in the meantime.
3. Fear of the Ivory Tower. SMBs have a practical outlook. Most of the employees are close to the customer, close to the action. This is healthy, but it can make leaders distrustful of theories, systems, generalizations and formulas. Leaders may feel that decisions cannot be trusted unless they are tied directly to personal customer contact. This type of leadership is locked in permanent reactive mode.
4. Fear of the facilitation. Effective strategic planning meetings require great skill to facilitate. Leaders may fear that their meetings, no matter how well intended, will end up as bitch sessions or hours of aimless wandering.
5. Fear of commitment. The problem with strategic planning is that it leads to decisive action. And yes, that can be a problem if leadership likes to hedge its bets, keep lots of balls in the air and keep all options open. It has been my experience that only a handful of companies belong to the “Ready, Aim, Fire!” school. Many more belong to the “Ready, Fire, Aim!” school. But for the vast majority, the mantra is “Ready, Aim, Aim, Aim, Aim…”
6. Fear of the future. Part of why SMBs fear commitment is because the cost of failure is high. Managers of Fortune 500 companies play with house money. For entrepreneurs, one’s livelihood is at stake. A winning strategic plan might help the family build a dream house, but a losing plan might result in no house at all.
All of these fears are legitimate to one extent or another. But it’s important to keep in mind that just about every successful company has a strategic mindset. Next time–how companies can overcome the difficulties and become strategic.