strategic planning for non-profitsa worthwhile endeavorora waste of time, money and energy?

7/29/2019 Strategic Planning for Non-profitsA Worthwhile EndeavororA Waste of Time, Money and Energy?

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Strategic Planning for Non-protsA Worthwhile Endeavor

orA Waste of Time, Money and Energy

!ames Neils

"ol#mes of material have $een written espo#sing the need for non-protorgani%ations to engage in strategic planning& '#ic(ly catching #p in n#m$er arearticles and p#$lications to e)plain why strategic plans for non-prots fre*#ently fail&+iven the mo#nting evidence a$o#t why strategic plans are #ns#ccessf#l, why donon-prots contin#e to fail S#rely, no one deli$erately sets o#t to $e #ns#ccessf#land waste time, money and energy&

The writers who e)plain why strategic planning fails #s#ally identify the ve, seven orten sol#tions that co#ld have prevented the fail#re if their s#ggestions had $een

(nown or followed& The implication seems to $e that had leaders read the a#thorsmaterial prior to implementation of a plan they wo#ld not have followed the otherlemmings over the edge or were not so nave as to thin( .that it wont happen to #s/&0f only it were that simple&

0t is important, partic#larly given the mo#nting evidence, to $rie1y review a few ofthe reasons given to e)plain why strategic planning fails& 2ather than detail thegrowing list of reasons cited, most can $e red#ced to t the following categories3

4istory of plans not e)ec#ted well or $ad plans that sho#ld not haveproceeded

5ac( of 1e)i$ility, too tactical and little strategic thin(ing 5ac( of leadership, internal politics and top down design and implementation 6#lt#re of non-involvement, lac( of respect for sta7 inp#t and ideas

5ac( of3 follow-#p, feed$ac(, meas#rement or data collection and deadlines +eneral rel#ctance to change, plans too $road and lac(ing appropriatereso#rces

These categories are $y no means e)ha#stive or completely descri$e all of thereasons cited& They do however ill#strate *#ite clearly that there are ma8or $arriersnon-prot organi%ations most overcome for any strategic plan to have a chance fors#ccess&

The for-prot sector, often portrayed as the model to follow, strategic planning hasseen a series of #ps and down and s#ccess rates that are little $etter than their non-prot colleag#es& 9nce a prime proponent of organi%ational wide strategic planning,$y the late :;ce& 9thers then followed +Es lead&

To get an appreciation for the fail#re in corporate America to strategically plan,consider the res#lts of one s#rvey of corporate e)ec#tives as reported in an on-linepost to 6hief 0nvestment 9>cers within 4igher Ed#cation& Altho#gh the statisticalpercentages vary $etween s#rveys, res#lts repeatedly demonstrate the adversitystrategic plans enco#nter&

9nly ?@ of e)ec#tives were motivated $y the plans they created?

Bewer than ?C of employees had access to strategic plans?


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;= of well-form#lated strategies failed d#e to poor e)ec#tion?

;? of organi%ations did not report on lead performance indicators?

;@ of employees did not #nderstand their organi%ations strategy?

c#lt to $elieve that any organi%ation wo#lddeli$erately set o#t on a path that many (now is a 8o#rney with a high fail#re rate&6an it $e tr#e that e)ec#tives in $oth for-prot and non-prot organi%ations $elieve.it wont happen to #s/

9ne can only imagine the concern that cons#ltants and rms that that earn theirlivelihood leading strategic planning sessions react to the s#ggestion that strategicplanning is a waste of time&

There is no denying that there are s#ccesses and large organi%ations li(e the +atesBo#ndation contin#ally #se strategic planning to improve& While most a#thors writea$o#t the fail#res of strategic planning a few st#dies have identied why somes#cceed while others fail&

A recently released st#dy $y the Association of Strategic Planning DASP and thePolitical Science Fepartment at the Gniversity of Ar(ansas details some of thereasons non-prots e)perience s#ccessf#l strategic planning& After analy%ing s#rveyresponses from more than one tho#sand @=: DcH organi%ations, the report identied

three important factors that contri$#ted to a non-prot organi%ations s#ccess tostrategically plan& The res#lts sho#ld not come as a s#rprise to anyone engaged instrategic planning and implemented or attempted to implement a plan&

Strategic planning was a ro#tine practice for s#ccessf#l organi%ations, $#t nots#ccessf#l for organi%ations that to often were responding to immediatechallenges or to deter increasing ris(s&

9rgani%ations that emphasi%ed the e)ec#tion of the plan e)perienced s#ccesswhile those that failed co#ld not or were not s#>ciently prepared to e)ec#tethe plan&

S#ccessf#l organi%ations val#ed strategic planning as a component of theirs#ccess, while it was not for those organi%ations that were #ns#ccessf#l&

What is it a$o#t process or the organi%ation that ma(es a di7erence Moreimportantly what needs to change to increase the s#ccess rate of strategic planningfor non-prots As Professor !ohn Iryson of the Gniversity of Minnesota in his essay,Public and Non-proft Planning in the Future,points o#t no one approach willnecessarily t every sit#ation an organi%ation may enco#nter& 9rgani%ations m#strecogni%e the 1#id nat#re of their sit#ation and $e 1e)i$le and adapta$le& 0t m#sthave sta7 capa$le and dedicated to strategic thin( the a$o#t the organi%ation andf#t#re actions&


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Iryson $elieves not only will strategic planning contin#e, $#t from necessity s#ccessrates will need to increase in the coming decades& Scarcity of nancial reso#rcesfrom governmental so#rces, changing demographics, the impact of the 0nternet,social media and comp#ter technology as well as glo$al iss#es will all impact p#$licand non-prot agencies as never $efore& 4is eight predictions are not far fetchedideas, $#t seem to $e realistic appraisal of the changes that will face non-prots in

the American society&

INCREASING THE PROBABILITY OF SUCCESSPerhaps a large part of the sol#tion lies not in the planning process at all& 0n responseto a two part series $y the editor of the Il#e Avocado a$o#t why non-prots fail atstrategic planning, Mi(e Allison $elieves it is not the process at fa#lt, rather theconditions #nder which the process occ#rs& The res#lts from the recent st#dy $y theASP seem to conrm his view&

Mi(e arg#ed too many non-prots engage in strategic planning $eca#se of are*#irement from a f#nder, to o7set internal or e)ternal press#res or decide toshortc#t the process to save time or money& 4e is #napologetic for the cost and timeinvolved to develop a 1e)i$le, wor(a$le and s#ccessf#l strategic plan& 4e stressesdoing it $eca#se someone else tells yo# to do so or as a disg#ise for another agendais never a good start to s#ccessf#l completion&

2eviewing $oth s#rvey res#lts and Mi(es comments, it may $e that organi%ationsthat failed were simply not prepared for the challenges to implement the strategicplan& 6omparing the s#rvey res#lts with what critics have identied are reasonsstrategic planning fails there are stri(ing similarities3 lac( of comm#nication, lac( ofmeas#rement, lac( of involvement, poor e)ec#tion and lac( of leadershipcommitment to name 8#st a few&

What all of this evidence points may not $e poor planning at all, altho#gh poorplanning $y itself does occ#r& 0t co#ld $e the res#lting plan is merely the $y-prod#ctfor the real reasons for the fail#res& 6onsider the statistics earlier cited, $#t in aslightly di7erent perspective to answer the following *#estions&

:& Is it strategic for any organization to e!ote on"y #$ %o&rs a yearin isc&ssion on strategic iss&es

5oo( at what the n#m$ers reveal& There are ?,=


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dependent on the willingness of an organi%ation to devote all the reso#rces toe)ec#te the plan&

9rgani%ations that do not engage in strategic thin(ing, action and operations sho#ldnot $e e)pected to s#ccessf#lly e)ec#te a strategic plan regardless of how well theplan was developed& Poor organi%ational e)ec#tion prior to any strategic plan will

pro$a$ly mean poor organi%ational e)ec#tion of the plan&

4ow can anyone strategically plan if they do not have time to strategically thin(The *#estion of who teaches managers and e)ec#tives the s(ill of strategic thin(ingis another matter& 2esearch has demonstrated that the s(ill of strategic thin(ing isnot at all related to positional level in an organi%ation& B#rther, given the day-to-daytactical demands on many non-prot leaders and sta7, few have mastered how todevote time to thin( strategically, even if they are adept at it&

To increase the chances that a strategic plan will s#cceed an organi%ation sho#ldc#lt#rally em$race the val#e of strategic thin(ing, commit to $eing strategiccontin#o#sly and $e disciplined in e)ec#tion at all levels& 0t sho#ld allocate aconstant and recogni%a$le portion of employees, especially senior e)ec#tives, time toidentify, analy%e, synthesi%e and disc#ss strategic iss#es&

$' Is it strategic for any organization not to re(ort (erfor)anceinicators*

0f there is one area where far too non-prots remain decient, it is data collection,analysis and performance meas#res& 6an any non-prot or for-prot company thatdoes not have performance meas#res in place prior to a strategic plan really $ee)pected to have meaningf#l meas#rements after a plans implementation or to haveappropriate performance meas#res for the plan itself

F#e to the decreased f#nding and increased oversight, non-prots are facing the tas(of developing performance indicators and reporting& 0n the past, many co#ld escapethe hard process $y claiming it was simply too di>c#lt to identify appropriate

performance meas#res& Not any longer& There is no denying it can $e di>c#lt wor(,$#t an growing n#m$er of professionals, $#sinesses and colleag#es are helping non-prots to accomplish it& Tom 2alser, in his wor( ROI or Non-proftso#tlines severalways non-prots can meas#re their res#lts and societal impact&

+' Is it strategic for any organization employees not to understand thestrategy*

A$raham Maslow is most noted for his social psychology wor( and developed aconcept now (nown simply as Maslows Hierarchy o Needs& I#t, he was also anorgani%ational cons#ltant and (ept a 8o#rnal of his o$servations& Now p#$lished, heprovided one *#ote that perhaps is the $est s#mmary response to this *#estion&4ere is what he had this to say a$o#t most organi%ations #se of its employees&

!ost o us "ould argue that "e belie#e in the potential o people

and that people are our !ost i!portant organi$ational assets% I thatis the case, "hy then do "e re&uently design organi$ations to satisyour need or control and not to !axi!i$e the contributions o people'(

0t is a stri(ing commentary and *#ite appropriate to any disc#ssion a$o#t whystrategic plans fail&

The lac( of respect, comm#nication, openness and a variety of other ad8ectives todescri$e how organi%ational leaders interact with their personnel prior to a strategicplan is an indicator of a plans possi$ility of s#ccess once p#t into e7ect& '#ite a few


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strategic plans have $een s#ccessf#lly sc#ttled $y employees in response to onemore demand on their time and wor( load&

,' Is it strategic for an executive or board not to value strategic planning?

9f all of the iss#es a$o#t why strategic plans fail this one is foc#sed s*#arely on the*#ality of e)ec#tives and Ioards& A n#m$er of s#rveys have reported that e)ec#tives

are fre*#ently not happy $y the *#ality of plans prod#ced& Why, perhaps $eca#se itis not that important to them& Fo they do it when they have to and not $eca#se they$elieve they sho#ld on a reg#lar $asis Part of leadership is helping people achieves#ccessL at least that is what most $oo(s on leadership seem to stress&

There is one additional factor few identify among the reasons Strategic Plans s#cceedor fail& Bor most non-prots, it may well $e a more critical iss#e that needs to $eaddressed and resolved prior to any serio#s disc#ssion of a strategic planL 6apacity&

CAPACITYThe one primary di7erence $etween non-prots and their for-prot co#sins has $eenthe capacity to e)ec#te the plan& Altho#gh in recent years the *#est $y for-prots tooperate .lean/ has also lessened their capacity to implement strategic plans& As it

relates to strategic planning, capacity is having additional employees, e)cessemployee time as well as additional technological reso#rces and nances to e)ec#tethe strategic plan&

4ow many non-prots that can not a7ord a professional to assist them, em$ar( ontheir own to develop a strategic plan and than nd little time or money to implementit 0t is not eno#gh to generate enth#siasm, espo#se how well the organi%ation willf#nction once the plan is p#t into place or highlight the $enets of coming togetherfor a common ca#se and e)pect s#ccess& The organi%ation m#st have the capacity tocarry o#t the plan&

The *#estion that m#st $e atthe forefront of any disc#ssion of a strategic plan is*#ite simply3 0s there e)cess capacity within the organi%ations reso#rces to achieve

s#ccess 0f not, what needs to $e done to increase reso#rce capacity 6anadditional capacity $e fo#nd, developed or p#rchased 0s it possi$le to reallocate thereso#rces re*#ired for any plan witho#t adversely impacting other pro8ects or normaldemands on personnel, facilities, nances, vol#nteers, or all of them

To often organi%ations em$ar( on well developed strategic plans only to nd within afew months that it too 8oined others on the archive shelf& Many organi%ations committo ma(ing a plan wor(, $#t have failed to ade*#ately meas#re whether they have thecapacity to e)ec#te the plan&

As a cons#ltant to a n#m$er of strategic planning committees, capacity has alwaysplayed a signicant role to determine a plans possi$le s#ccess& Admittedly, it is achallenge to help an organi%ation recogni%e once people leave the energi%ingstrategic planning retreat or session things change *#ic(ly& Bar too often the *#estionof capacity is given little serio#s consideration in the moment of great enth#siasmand e)citement&

Employees ret#rn to their normal wor( load that more often than not leaves littletime to engage in any contin#o#s and committed wor( on the strategic plan& Scarcenancial and organi%ational reso#rces are ins#>cient to allocate to $oth a strategicplan and new operational challenges that occ#r& E)ec#tive and Ioard 5eadership toooften move to the ne)t challenge& 4ow many Ioards have, with the President in thelead, have a committee f#lly committed and meeting fre*#ently to contin#o#sly


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monitor and lead the plan to s#ccess The same holds tr#e for senior managementas well&

9ne m#st always remem$er that a strategic plan may ca#se a signicant shift in theway an organi%ation f#nctions, what it does and how it c#lt#rally $ehaves& 5estanyone thin( that this is not a ma8or #nderta(ing, consider the roadway to any

strategic plans s#ccess is littered $y the decaying remains of so many failed plans&

0s it any wonder so many plans fail 2eviewing again the ASPs st#dy res#lts,s#ccessf#l implementation of a strategic plan occ#rred $eca#se the non-protorgani%ation reg#larly engaged in planning, (new how to allocate reso#rces toimplement it and val#ed planning as a (ey to their s#ccess& 4ow many others cansay that

There are possi$ly many e)cellent plans that had they $een given the appropriatereso#rces they might have s#cceed *#ite well& I#t witho#t #nderstanding theconditions #nder which a plan is form#lated and attempted, they never had a chance&

Conc"&sion6ritics of strategic planning point to the fail#re rates and the wasted reso#rces asreasons why organi%ations sho#ld see( alternatives& 2ather than foc#s on the whyStrategic Plans fail, the attention sho#ld $e placed on preparing or ma(ing s#re anorgani%ation is constantly thin(ing strategically, has recogni%ed the need for e)cesscapacity, #ses performance meas#res and (nows how to e)ec#te a pro8ect&

That means organi%ations and also cons#ltants need to meas#re prior to anyplanning $egins whether an organi%ation has3

$een thin(ing strategically

the capacity and discipline to e)ec#te the strategic plan

the reso#rces needed to s#cceed

accepted and prepared for the harsh reality that it will re*#ire attention, timeand energy to ma(e the plan s#cceed&

the organi%ational 1e)i$ility to adapt the plan and its reso#rces to contin#e asthe conditions re*#ire

The iss#e is not simply why plans fail, rather how to help non-prot organi%ationsreach a point that they are f#lly prepared to thin( strategically, engage in 1e)i$lestrategic planning, develop good plans and have the reso#rces and discipline neededto e)ec#te the plans&


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2eferences

Ten Common Reasons Strategic Plans Fail,Leo Bottary' E)ec#tive Street Ilog,Novem$er ?:, ?=:=

Fi!e Reasons -%y Strategic P"anning Fai"s to Pro&ce .esire Res&"ts/ evin Marshall,

Marshall Advisory +ro#p, www&MarshallAdvisory&com

A new Paradigm for Strategic Planning, Ta#nya 5and and Nancy +alligan, Bor#m,Association Bor#m of 6hicagoland, !#ne ?==C, "ol& ;: No& @ pp& ?


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Strategic Planning- Fail"res and Alternati(es,!an Masao(a, Editor, Il#e Avacado, SanBrancisco, Be$r#ary :;, ?=::

Strategic P"anning S&ccessf&" Practices in Non0(ro1t Organizations 234#c+5 6arc%$4#$ Nationa" S&r!ey 7 Initia" Finings8, reported at the ASP Ann#al 6onference, March?=:?

Strategic thin%ing is the %ey to proacti(e management,Steven Watson, ,techrep#$lic&com !#ly


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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Mr& Neils career incl#des management and e)ec#tive positions in for-prot and not-for-prot organi%ations&Early in his career, he ret#rned to academia and $ecame interested in researching organi%ational goals,performance meas#res and nancial ret#rns on non-prot organi%ations& Altho#gh his p#$lished wor(s areoften directed toward non-prots, his concepts and analysis are e*#ally applica$le to for-prots as well&

As his career progressed, Mr& Neils recogni%ed the day-to-day demands on e)ec#tives, especiallymanagers, were most often at the tactical decision level, leaving little time to improve or developstrategic s(ills& As a res#lt, he developed a (een interest in strategic thin(ing&

4is rst wor( was sing onceptual )odels to I!pro#e an Executi#e.s /trategic 0hin1ing% This paper wasa theoretical e)ploration of concept#al models and strategic thin(ing& Adapting A$raham Maslows.Hierarchy o /ocial Needs/ Mr& Neils e)amined how internal and e)ternal forces act on organi%ations ande)ec#tives&

Bollowing that, he $egan to investigate how e)ec#tives might integrate creativity as a way to improvestrategic thin(ing s(ills& This second article reati#ity, /trategic 0hin1ing and /tatistical )odels*#estionshow commonly #sed statistic models and creativity might aid an e)ec#tives and sta7s s(ill to thin(strategically&

Ieca#se of the interest generated from these articles, he $egan to investigate how managers ande)ec#tives learned to thin( strategically& 4is research fo#nd most emphasis to $e on attri$#tes of strategicthin(ing people and the need to thin( strategic, $#t little on teaching methodology& This prompted,

2e#eloping the /1ill o /trategic 0hin1ingin which he s#ggests 1owcharting as a possi$le method to teachsta7, managers and e)ec#tives to $ecome strategic thin(ers&

Mr& Neils wrote 3hat non-profts can learn ro! the Oba!a a!paignin response to an engagementwhere he arg#ed the need for non-prots to improve their #se of data and data analysis&

4is wor( 0ea! +uilding In a ulture o I$egan after attending a convention of 4#man 2eso#rce managersand recogni%ed the strong interest in team $#ilding& Mr& Neils e)plores how c#lt#ral forces in the GS, thatemphasi%e the val#e of the individ#al is a #ni*#e component and has yet considered $y a#thors who st#dyteam $#ilding and $y management as they identify person to $ecome part of a team&

2ecogni%ing the impact the 0nternet had on $#siness and the vast amo#nts of data that it provides Mr&Neils has t#rned his attention to what organi%ations do with the data they collect or co#ld collect& 4is wor(I!pro#ing a Non-proft.s ollection and se o 2ata attempts to red#ce the an)iety a$o#t data, datacollection and analysis&

6#rrently, he is wor(ing on a follow-#p piece that e)plores f#nd raising and why nonprots need to $e#sing on-line crowdf#nding applications& This $rief essay,4re 5ou /till sing a +obber and 4 3or! to Fishor Fundswill $e p#$lished soon&

Mr& Neils $elongs to several 5in(ed0n gro#ps on non-prot management, strategic thin(ing andperformance meas#res as well as involved in organi%ations foc#sed on developing improved management,meas#rement and technology applications for nonprots& 4e can $e reached at!ames&neilsgmail&com&
mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]

strategic planning for non-profitsa worthwhile endeavorora waste of time, money and energy?

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