Should you NEVER have fun during your company’s strategy planning process?
I suspect you know my answer to that question!
I had dinner the other evening with a former colleague from the corporate world. He is the relatively new CEO of a nonprofit organization. As we were exchanging stories about what we had done since the last time we saw one another, we discussed strategic planning.
He mentioned that the organization’s current strategic planning process facilitator "reprimanded" him at a strategy meeting. She told him never to mention the idea of having "fun" during strategy planning. Supposedly, the previous CEO set the tone for strategy, and fun was not part of the strategic planning process equation.
Wow.
Double Wow.
I immediately showed him how one of our most recent strategic planning eBooks was all about working to create a fun atmosphere for strategy planning. He recalled how we always spread out a bunch of toys at strategy planning meetings. While toys may or may not be part of the mix during strategic planning activities, the key principle is that being serious and mind numbing does not, in and of itself, lead to stronger strategy.
In the Brainzooming worldview, the best strategy comes from pushing on the edges of everyday thinking.
Or pushing beyond those edges into territory no upstanding businessperson would typically venture. And in those cases, fun and laughter are all part of the strategy deal. You cannot imagine boldly when your brain is chained to serious thinking.
Mind numbing thinking does not lead to breakthrough thinking.
Wild thinking (which IS FUN) does.
That is why we highly recommend that fun and your company’s strategic planning process go together! - Mike Brown
Looking for Ideas to Make Strategy Planning More Fun?
Yes, developing strategy can be fun . . . if you know the right ways to liven it up while still developing solid strategies! If you're intrigued by the possibilities, download our FREE eBook, "11 Fun Ideas for Strategic Planning."
