How to be strategic during (continued) uncertainty

The crystal ball has always been a bit cloudy, but it’s gotten even harder to read since Covid became our new normal.  Just as we think we’re getting the hang of it, something else changes. 

 Q: How can you create a three-year strategic plan in this environment?

A:  You don’t.

 For several years before Covid, we’d been moving to more flexible strategic frameworks that set direction but are a bit more forgiving on timing and specific details.  We find these to be more about strategy – what an organization does and it’s high-level focus, than on how it does those things.   We’re still working with frameworks, but we’re also building in deliberate decision points and adaptability.  

 Q:  How do you begin to create a strategic framework?

 A: Ask a Lot of Questions

With so much change, the tried and true may no longer be true.  Instead, question what you “know” and how you work.  Listen to the people you serve and how their lives are changing. Bring their voices to your decisions.

 A: Dig Deep on the Basics

Generative thinking and innovation have been a benefit of Covid, especially when we all shut down back in March 2020. Organizations were forced to evaluate what they had to keep as essential to their mission and what they could give up.  Even with more flexibility (and some PPP funding), it’s always right to keep the focus on the must haves versus the nice to haves.

 A: Make Sure your Basics Include Equity

As you think about your basics, question why your mission is needed and who your organization serves.  While there may always be a need to do more or better in your mission area, are the needs exacerbated by systemic racism? Does how you deliver services reinforce inequitable systems?

 A: Focus on Direction & Build in Decision Points

High-level directions built on the basics, such as expanding services to a different part of town, remain valid despite change.  How and when you expand may change.  In a multi-year framework, the first six months may be the exploration of several options – co-locate, start part-time, buy/lease newly vacated office space, train staff at partner agencies, etc.

 Then build in a decision point at the end of the six months. Decision points must acknowledge from the beginning that an acceptable (and even successful!) outcome may be that now is not the right time to expand. A decision may be to postpone an initiative for future evaluation, or to implement in ways that are different from what was originally imagined.

 What have you found to be most useful & most constricting in your strategy in these times of uncertainty?