“Those who fail to plan, plan to fail.” – Anonymous

Careful Planning

Many teams and organizations run on hope. “Let’s hope for the best,” they may say. “We hope this works.” “We hope we are selected for the job.” “Let’s hope for a win.” As the wise saying goes, Hope is not a strategy. Merriam-Webster defines strategy in two ways:

• A careful plan or method
• The art of devising or employing plans or stratagems toward a goal

I love both definitions and would place emphasis on the word careful in the first and the phrase toward a goal in the second. If your strategy is not carefully planned and there is no clear goal, then you do not have a strategy. 

The Last 2%

My wife, Shantell, is one of the best that I have seen when it comes to execution. Since I first met her, she has been a no-nonsense, high quality, get it done type of person. I am writing this on a Sunday morning after church. Today, my wife happened to speak for all four services. I cannot believe the quality of her execution; her delivery is flawless, words are crisp and full of emotion, she pauses for emphasis and tells stories like I have never seen, all while hardly looking at the screen in front of her as an aid. How does she do this?

Yes, she is talented. But she plans so intensely (always has) that when it is show time, it is like another practice. She plans every detail of her presentation, from what she wears to the setting. I once saw her speak holding a giant soup spoon as a prop for a microphone. She will rehearse and rehearse and rehearse until she knows her stuff inside and out. Her planning is 98% of her total effort and the execution is the last 2%. It is a beautiful reminder of the rigor of planning for successful execution. It is not for the lazy, complacent short-cutter. Execution demands excellence. No excuses.

Practical Planning

So now we see that strategy takes time and effort. It is not easy, and that’s why the winning teams are handsomely rewarded for their investment. Strategy looks different in each organization and industry. 

Sports

On a sports team, your strategy could vary depending on the competition you face. If your competitor has a strong defense, you would be wise to deal with them carefully and with more tact than if your team had a stronger offensive advantage. 

Product Launch

In the business world, if you are trying to launch a product, to be successful, you must carefully plan your actions towards the goal. Goals must clear to all team members; if they cannot see them with their eyes closed, you have failed to make it clear. Making your goals “SMART” is the simplest way to make them clear to the team:

• Specific
• Measurable
• Action-Based
• Time-Oriented

Personal Projects

As a simple example, my goal was to write a 40,000-word book about building high performance teams in less than one year, and my strategy involved writing 500 words per day on certain elements of team building to achieve that goal. If I simply hoped to write this book, the goal will not be realized. If I did not carefully and methodically plan a strategy to accomplish this, the goal would not be realized. If I had not followed my strategy to actually write 500 words per day – you guessed it – the goal would not be realized. 

Corporate Strategic Planning

A high-performance organization I worked for in my career had developed a 10-year goal to be number two in its industry. To accomplish this they established specific objectives, annually and long term, to meet this lofty goal. Every fabric of how they operated the business was tied to the goal:

• Business Pursuits
• Financial performance
• Talent Acquisition
• Customer Satisfaction
• Training and Development

All of it was tied to the 10-year plan of becoming second in the industry by revenue. That is a strategy.

A strategy is a careful plan matched to a goal. Execution is delivering on that strategy. As you will see, execution is the hardest part of high-performance.

Plan an effective team strategy and follow it. 

Application

1. How clear is the organizational goal to the team? Can they see it in their sleep?
2. How well have the strategic objectives been tied to the goal?
3. Is your team performing to their strategy?
4. What will you do next to improve any element of your strategy (goal, careful plan, team alignment)?

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