If a policy represents intention, a strategy is the roadmap that helps make that intention a reality.
Most everyone is familiar with the saying, “if you fail to plan, you plan to fail.”
Even with the best will in the world, policies are worthless without clear plans that give them life, that move them from the domain of dreams to the realm of what is real and can deliver tangible value.
Often, any number of different roads can get you to a given destination. But your experience is likely to vary depending on which route you take.
Roadmaps Work Wonders
People travelling together might share a vision of where they want to go but differ so profoundly on how to get there they end up parting ways before the journey’s end.
That’s why an agreed strategy or roadmap is just as important as the vision or intention itself.
In a global environment where complexity and competition are so fierce and so relentless, we must plan effectively if we want to succeed.
People travelling together might share a vision of where they want to go but differ so profoundly on how to get there they end up parting ways before the journey’s end.
The most important elements in any strategy are quite straightforward … then again, not so much in a world as complicated as ours has become.
At its core, a strategy tells us how to realise our vision using the resources we have. It sets out the dream as well as the goals intended to achieve it. It then outlines a path to achieving those goals and allocates the resources necessary to get us to where we say we want to be.
That’s why an agreed strategy or roadmap is just as important as the vision or intention itself.
Resources might be tangible or intangible assets. They might include people, information, knowledge and knowhow, money, technology, equipment and other infrastructure, spaces, buildings and built environments, networks, relationships and influence, even water, land and other natural resources.
A good strategy also includes structures and mechanisms to keep things on track, ensure accountability, measure success, and communicate messages that win friends and attract those who can help us achieve our objectives. In other words, an effective strategy makes provision for management, measurement, governance, and marketing.
If Wishes Were Horses …
In life it’s lovely to have a dream, a vision, an intention. It’s wonderful to make those intentions clear by writing ideas down or saying things out loud.
But when our dreams, our visions, our intentions, our policies confront the stark, brutal reality of a world that doesn’t always cooperate in helping us to achieve our dreams, what do we do?
When I was 11 years old, I learned a wonderful lesson.
I had an amazing form mistress, Mrs. Daphne St. John, who also taught me English Literature and other subjects. I still remember one class when she repeated well-known proverbs and asked us to explain what they meant.
To this day “if wishes were horses, beggars would ride” has stuck with me. It taught me that if simply wishing for something could make it happen, none of us would lack for the things we desire.
In a technology-driven world where disruption, disorder and dissent have become the new normal, an ability to translate visions and policies into effective strategies for action is more important than ever.
Designing sound, suitable interventions that bring a sense of discipline, direction, order and purpose to chaotic, fast-moving environments is now a non-negotiable requirement for success.
No two ways about it, we must plan well if we want to do well.
