By La Piana Consulting Strategic Planning May 02, 2019
Strategy is not planning. Strategy is about making smart strategic choices as the world changes around us and taking action in real-time. To help your organization think and act strategically every day, not just once every few years, consider these five principles for strategy development.
1. KNOW YOURSELF
Whether as individuals or as organizations, we sometimes forget to remember who we are. For individuals, remembering might mean spending time with an old friend or a sibling, someone who brings you back to your fundamental self. For organizations, it means taking time with board and management to review the most basic elements of the organization’s identity: its mission, customers, service area, programs, and funding:
2. KNOW YOUR MARKET
To really know yourself, you need to know the world around you. We all work within a larger context; our organizations, as well as those we serve, are and will continue to be impacted by social, economic, demographic, political, and funding changes. Taking time to truly explore and understand those changes and their implications can help you better identify future opportunities and challenges, how they may affect your organization, and what you will do in reaction to (or better yet, in anticipation of) each.
Knowing your market also means knowing who else is working in your “space,” and how your organization compares. Remember that while board and staff may have one view of how your organization stacks up, clients, customers, colleagues, funders, policy makers, and even competitors might have another. Both perspectives are critical.
3. BUILD ON YOUR STRENGTHS
It is human nature to fret over our weaknesses. But we as individuals are more energized, and organizations are more successful, when we focus on our strengths. The best approach to developing strategy is to use the organizational identity discussed in the first principle to guide you in doing more of what you do best.
But before you can do that, you need to fill in one more missing piece. Another part of knowing yourself is knowing how your organization is distinct from others in your field—your competitive advantage. Ask yourself: What is the particular strength we have that differentiates us, makes us unique, and helps us make the case that others should support our work?
Once you know what your competitive advantage is, do more of it! Knowing where your organization truly excels will help you best compete on behalf of your mission and have the greatest impact with your resources.
Strategy is a coordinated set of actions aimed at creating and sustaining a competitive advantage in carrying out your nonprofit’s mission.
