1. Strategic Thinking & Planning Overview
WELCOME TO
Strategic Thinking & Planning Overview
Presented by

2. Training Objectives
At the end of this training, participants will be able to:
Know the difference between Conventional Management and Strategic Management.
Understand what it means to think strategically.
Understand the importance of Strategic Planning.
Understand the relationship between Strategic Thinking and Strategic Planning.
Outline the Strategic Planning Process.
Know how to apply Strategic Thinking and Planning to their organization.

3. What Is Strategy? Strategy is:
A stream of decisions focused on a purpose.
Looking long term.
Capitalizing on change.
Managing strategic risks.
The creation of a unique and valuable position in your industry.
Choosing what not to do.
Creating a fit among an organization’s activities.
Strategy is about finding a unique way to put the organization’s activities
(buying, selling, producing, hiring, firing, etc.) together that is hard or
impossible for competitors to replicate and is valuable to customers.

4. Strategy is the larger vision in an organization that guides the plans for employees and managers.
Strategy has its foundation in strategic thinking. It is the determination of the long-term goals and objectives of an organization and the courses of action and resources necessary for implementing these goals.
Strategic planning must anticipate unexpected events, randomness, and chaos to provide a good strategy.

5. In modern organizations, executives include every level
of the organization in
developing and implementing
the overall strategy.

6. How is sustained, superior performance attained?
Good strategic planning allows an organization to develop a sustainable, competitive advantage.
How is sustained,
superior
performance
attained?

7. The Role of Strategy Strategy Execution Effective Ineffective
Sustained, superior performance is attained by utilizing a combination of effective strategies and excellent execution
Strategy
Effective
Ineffective
Long Term Success
Success
Unlikely
Excellent
Execution
Maybe successful
For a while
Failure
Poor

8. What Is Strategic Management?
Strategic management is about anticipating, driving, and capitalizing on change:
Anticipating: seeing the future
Driving: shaping the future
Capitalizing: making the most of the future

9. Conventional Thinking vs. Strategic Management
“If it ain’t broke Don’t fix it.”
Strategic Management:
“If it ain’t broke. . . You haven’t looked hard enough.
Fix it anyway!”
Tom Peters - Thriving on Chaos

10. The Strategic Management Cycle
Thinking
Doing
Planning

11. Strategic Management - Where To Start?
In any strategic planning process, you must start by developing a Strategic Plan.
A strategic plan is the roadmap that will take the organization from where it is today to where it wants to go in the coming years.
Having a plan is as important to the organization’s future as architectural plans are to building a home.
Strategic Planning has its foundation on the statements that describe who we are, where we want to go, and how we will strive for our goals. They include:
Mission Statement
Vision Statement
Value Statement

12. Mission, Vision and Value Statements
Mission Statement:
Serves to identify the overall purpose of an organization.
Identifies customers/stakeholders.
Helps identify customer and stakeholder needs, expectations.
Leads to the development of performance measures.
Miami-Dade County’s Mission:
"Delivering excellent public services
that address our community's needs
and enhance our quality of life."

13. Mission, Vision and Value Statements
The Vision Statement:
The key to a Strategic Plan is the vision. `
A vision is where we want to be, what we are working towards. 
It describes what we strive for everyday.
Miami-Dade County’s Vision Statement:
“Delivering Excellence Every Day”

14. Mission, Vision and Value Statements
The Value Statement:
Value statements are grounded in values, and define how people want to behave with each other in an organization.
They represent an organization’s highest priorities and deeply held driving forces.
They are statements about how the organization will value customers, suppliers, and the internal community.
They are an organization’s core beliefs and behavior guidelines.
Values are also known as Core Values and as Governing Values,
and Guiding Principles.

15. Mission, Vision and Value Statements
Miami-Dade County Value Statements or Guiding Principles:
Customer-focused and customer-driven.
Honest, ethical and fair to all
Accountable and responsive to the public.
Diverse and sensitive.
Efficient and effective.
Committed to development of leadership in public service.
Innovative.
Valuing and respectful of each other.
Action-oriented.

16. Developing A Strategic Plan
To develop a strategic plan, you must think strategically.
Start by answering three key questions:
Where are we now?
Part of this can be answered by using financial analysis.
Use other tools to assess what strategic resources, capabilities and core competencies you have.
Where are we going?
If no changes are made, where will the organization be in 5 years? What about 10 years?
Are the answers satisfactory? If not, what specific actions must be taken to ensure change?
How will we get there?
Strategic planning is about doing things that fulfill the vision you have for the organization
It is about goals and objectives and deciding what things need to be done.

17. Thinking Strategically
About. . .
STRATEGIC PLANNING
In essence, strategic management is about growing toward
Accomplishing your organizational goals.

18. Strategic Thinking What is our driving force?
What do we have to offer people?
What are our strengths?
What makes us unique?
Who are we and who do we want to be?
What do we do well?

19. Strategic Thinking
Focuses on finding and developing opportunities to create value, by encouraging creative dialogue among people who can affect a company’s direction.
Strategic thinking is a way of understanding the fundamental drivers of an organization, and challenging conventional thinking about them in constructive dialog.

20. Clarity of Purpose Be clear about: Your organization’s mission
Your organization’s vision
Your organization’s values
Your customers
Who your customers are.
What their needs are.
What value you add in meeting those needs.
What skills are required to add that value.
Note: These should all be articulated in the organization’s Mission Statement.

21. Strategic Planning Strategic planning is a process that reviews
market conditions, customer needs, competitive
strengths and weaknesses, sociopolitical, legal,
and economic conditions, technological
developments, and the availability of resources
to assist the organization in its planning
for opportunities or threats. .

22. What Strategic Planning Involves
Six points to consider:
Understand the organization
What is our business?
What should it be?
Do you recognize a need to change?
3. Are you prepared for honest feedback even if it’s painful?
4. Are you willing to change the way you do business and change yourself?
5. Will you turn the plan into action?
6. Do you have the vision to lead your organization into uncharted waters?

23. Operational Effectiveness vs. Strategy
Doing Things Right.
Doing the Right Things
Operational
Effectiveness:
Strategy:

24. Why is Strategic Planning Necessary?
Strategic planning is necessary to identify the organization’s objectives/priorities and the means by which they shall be achieved.
Planning strategically helps:
Focus talents and energies.
Assess and adjust direction in light of performance and a changing environment.
Do a better job.
Being strategic is to be clear about objectives, resources and expected results, and combining these in response to the wider political context in the long and medium term.

25. The Strategic Planning Process
The strategic planning process asks managers to ask themselves what they want the future of their division, department, organization to be, or what they must do to ensure the desired future is achieved.
Managers involved in the process may influence it by providing information and suggestions in their areas of responsibility.
Managers must know the process and results since their own department’s objectives should be derived from the strategic plan.
Note: In high performance organizations, strategic planning never
ends.

26. Sustained superior performance should be the goal of every organization!

27. Where are you? In The Box Of Mediocrity? Soaring? Poor trying
to become
good?
Faltering?

28. Applying These Steps to Your Situation
Confront the brutal facts of your situation.
Ask yourself the tough questions.
Is your department or organization meeting its business goals?
Are revenues growing, flat, or declining?
Is the organization profitable?
Is there clarity of purpose?
Is the direction realistic?
Be willing to make major changes.
Does the department or organization have a competitive advantage?
Does the department or organization have distinctive competencies in the skills critical for success?

29. Putting Theory Into Practice
Start by formulating the time-bound objectives of a program, activity, or action (including identifying comparative advantages for the organization).
Establish clear relationships to the organizational strategic objectives (i.e. organization’s mission and vision).
Specify relationships of your programs or activities to the organization’s development goals.
Formulate expected results, together with indicators (especially where results are of a qualitative nature).
Formulate a strategy to attain objectives.
Specify the resources and inputs required (in terms of staff, external advice, and funds).
Specify extent of desirable extra budgetary support.

30. Summary
In essence Strategic Thinking and Planning involve several factors:
Thinking long term
Understanding the organization’s vision
Understanding the organization’s mission
Understanding the organization’s values
Knowing who is going to do what
Organizing for action
Implementing strategy for action
Evaluating progress
Continuous improvement

31. If an organization’s strategic plan is properly executed,
the scope, range, issues,
and the time perspectives
will differ from department to department,
but all plans will be derived
from the strategic plan
and this will guide the achievement.

32. Change “It may be hard for an egg To turn into a bird.
It would be a jolly sight harder
for it to learn to fly while remaining an egg.
We are like eggs at present,
and you cannot go on indefinitely
being just an ordinary decent egg.
We must be hatched or go bad.”
--C.S. Lewis