Intro
In a previous post, we explored strategy as a spectrum — from rigid blueprints to adaptive improvisation — and how to determine where your organization fits. In this next series, we’ll dive deeper into what it means for strategy to be a living, breathing document.
Lost Opportunities
Too often, a strategic plan is treated as a one-time event. Leaders spend countless hours developing the plan—whether internally or with consultants—and then present it to the organization, perhaps in a big staff meeting. Regardless of how it’s created, this process carries a real cost.
Thanks for reading SmartWork Bulletin! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.
Every staff member has an hourly rate—and not just their base salary divided by hours worked. There’s a burdened rate, which includes the cost of benefits: paid time off, insurance, taxes, and other overhead. When you factor in the hours spent drafting the plan, plus the time spent on all-hands meetings or retreats, the cost to the organization is significant.
And what happens to the plan after all that investment?
It sits. In a shared drive. In a glossy binder. Unopened. Unused. Sometimes revisited a year or two later—if at all.
That’s a huge missed opportunity.
Strategic Plans as “Living Documents”
Let’s return to the blueprint metaphor. Imagine drawing up a beautiful blueprint for a house—and then stopping there. No contractors hired, no materials ordered, no construction started. The house doesn’t exist unless you act on it. And even when building begins, you’ll face dozens of in-the-moment decisions: Which flooring? What appliances? Paint color? Crown molding? Smooth ceilings or textured?
A blueprint gives you structure, but not all the answers. Strategy is the same—it requires implementation, iteration, and adaptation.
On the other end of the spectrum is the improvisational approach. Think of your strategy like a melody in a jazz performance: the core structure is there—mission, priorities, goals—but how you play it changes. It depends on the team, the timing, the challenges in front of you, and the feedback you receive. You riff. You adapt. You keep the melody, but you play it live.
Strategy isn’t a studio recording—it’s a live performance. Recordings are fixed. Performances evolve. Setlists change. Songs are reinterpreted. Even mid-performance, the band might shift tempo based on how the crowd responds.
In practice, strategy is built moment by moment—through decisions, actions, and adaptations to real-world circumstances and the skills you have at hand.
Conclusion
Strategies fail when we treat them as “set it and forget it.” When we treat planning like a box to check, rather than a tool to guide daily decisions, we lose its power.
A living strategy is active. It informs the choices we make every day. It helps staff understand how their work connects to the broader mission—giving it meaning and direction.
In our next post, we’ll explore why static plans fail — and how to build strategic practices that stay alive.
Let’s rework how you work!
Read the full article on Substack →
From the SmartWork Bulletin