I sat through a poorly managed, business-wide meeting to allegedly solicit perspectives for an organization's vision statement. Rather than using creative thinking exercises to help collectively form a strong vision, however, the leader directly asked the entire team what the vision should be. Participants then sat quietly as only a few people spoke (one-at-a-time) to offer opinion-filled perspectives.
Beyond being incredibly boring for everyone, think about this: What was the cost of 40 or 50 well-paid people sitting around mostly twiddling their thumbs for 3 hours, as perhaps 10 of them actively participated at any point?
What a way to waste time, creativity, and goodwill for future strategic planning.
Strategic Planning Doesn't Have to Kill Creativity
Do yourself a favor. Bookmark this article, and if you find yourself in an organization trying to develop a vision statement, PLEASE don't take the same approach I endured! Here's what to do:
- Break into small groups where multiple people can actively participate at the same time to stretch the group's thinking and share creative ideas.
- DON'T ASK the obvious question, "What should our vision be?" Going right to this question won't save time or improve results. People don't talk in ready-made "vision statements." This one-question approach simply draws out monologues doing little to coalesce a group's collective perspective.
- Instead, ask strong strategic planning questions to get participants to share the important words, phrases, and ideas that shape a vision. Such questions include:
- What is our organization passionate about doing for our people and our customers?
- What are we best at and where can we continue to excel?
- Who will our customers be five years from now? What do we think will be important for us to deliver in best serving them?
- What are capabilities we want to put in place to stretch our organization and better serve our audiences?
- What are the things we need to concentrate on to dramatically exceed our goals and objectives?
- Have small groups report their answers to these questions. Listen intently and write down ALL the ideas the group shares.
From this treasure trove of input, you'll be ready to construct an overarching statement born from active participation and the hopes and language of your organization. Plus people will actually be excited about participating the next time you need them to do strategic thinking.
Oh, and by the way: The Brainzooming Group is great at facilitating these types of discussions so you get maximum participation. We actually generate creativity and enthusiasm through how we approach a team's strategic conversations. Email me at info@brainzooming.com, and let's talk about how we can help you deliver great results for your organization. - Mike Brown
