The process of strategic planning for credit unions, or any other business, involves asking a lot of questions. But none are more important that this one…because if you haven’t answered it, you’ll never be able to effectively define a vision for the future that can actually be achieved.
ACTION ADVICE: During your next planning session or your next progress review for your current plan, ask the question: What are we not going to do? Brainstorm a list, prioritize it, and start taking action. As the old saw says, you can’t steal second base without taking your foot off of first…the things you decide not to do are the equivalent of taking that first step toward second base!
Thanks for the video, it was put together really well. I like the idea of asking the question “what are we not going to do?” It gets you thinking about your strategy from a new perspective.
Another helpful way to work out obstacles in the strategic plan before it is adopted is to employ the “postmortem technique.” In this exercise, the planning team imagine that the initiative has failed and then begin searching for ideas as to why it failed. This technique is another proactive approach at dealing with obstacles/threats before they surface.
Great idea…I use the post mortem approach with clients all the time…it’s a great way to analyze decisions and look for ways to improve them, and the thought process really helps to improve initiatives by pushing the team to think about what could go wrong and what it would mean, thereby allowing them to improve their plans before they act upon them. Thanks for sharing your insights!