Does a Leader Need to do Strategic Planning?

March 1^st, 2018

 

Does a Leader Need to do Strategic Planning?

N. Lee S. Price

Major General (Retired), U.S. Army

 

Does a leader need to do strategic planning? I know, I know, you have been at this a long time and had a lot of success. Need I mention some companies that didn’t take the time to look into the future and subsequently fell on hard times or became obsolete? Kodak, Blockbuster, Macy’s, Motorola, Polaroid, Xerox, etc. As the leader, scanning and understanding the internal and external environment is a requisite activity to ensure your organization’s future.

There are many models for planning and I don’t intend to cover them in this blog. I have often been asked about the importance of it. In the military, we plan all the time, so the question usually leaves me searching for a better story rather than rattling off names of failed businesses. I was reminiscing with someone this week about going through anti-terrorism driving school and woke up today with a “eureka” moment. First of all, this driving school should be illegal because I had way too much fun while learning to do a bunch of stuff I will never be allowed to do on the roads in the US. All joking aside, I learned a lot and am glad I have never had to use these skills. We had to do: forward J-turns, backward J-turns, precision interdiction, ramming/breaching, practice skidding, etc.

Please refer to my graphic.

Imagine you are told to approach the rectangular four cones at over 100 MPH. As you near the cones, the trainer yells “left” or “right” and you have to swing your car around the front cone and park the vehicle in between the four cones without hitting any of them. Isn’t this how our daily schedules are? Moving so fast, we hit the cones? After you crash through the cones the first time, the trainer will tell you to “quit looking at what is apparent and look at where you want to be.” Yep, I think that pretty much defines it. If you get so focused on what is apparent, you are going to crash the car right into it. After the first time around, the trainer merely says “eyes up” which reminds us to quit focusing on what’s near and look where we want to take the vehicle. Or, stated another way, don’t get so focused on the close-in targets, that you forget your responsibility to identify the next obstacles (and opportunities) that will ensure your future viability