1. Why innovate

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Strategic Planning 101 What is strategy and why
would I need it? John Knecht Tim Sauers
John Knecht Group 4616 N Racine Ave 773.561.1386
phone 1F 773.580.9337 cell Chicago, IL 60640
johnbamusic_at_hotmail.com
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Agenda

• Introductions Who are we?
• What is strategic planning?Why we need strategy
• What is in a strategic plan? Four components of
  a good plan
• How do we make a strategic plan? The process of
  strategy development
• How do we apply this?Applying this to your
  organization
• References Places to go for more info

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Introductions
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Introductions

• John Knecht
• New Jersey native, Chicagoan for four years
• MBA with strategy experience at Doblin and PWC
• Board member of Urban Gateways
• African drum instructor
• Tim Sauers
• Pennsylvania native
• Program Director at Urban Gateways
• Recently survived the strategic planning process
• Theater critic for Chicago newspaper
• Your turn. . . .
• Who are you?
• Where are you from?
• One interesting thing we wouldnt know. . .or
  what brought you to this session?

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What is strategic planning?
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Why is strategic planning important?
Two words SHIFT HAPPENS
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The world changes we need to evolve
The ant and the grasshopper

• Do we need a plan? No some can wing it
• Should we have one? Yes
• Strategic planning is a key component of being
  ready for change

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Discussion shift in the arts community

• What kinds of shifts are happening in the arts
  community?
• Demographic shifts
• Funding shifts
• Technology shifts
• School/Societal priority shifts

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What we know

• We know shift happens and the world changes. . .
  .
• But what is a strategy?

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Strategy is a tool of action

• The art of war, especially the planning of troops
  and ships, etc., into favorable positions plan
  of action or policy in business or politics etc.
• Oxford dictionary
• The specific tool of entrepreneurs, the means by
  which they exploit change. . .
• Peter Drucker, Innovation Entrepreneurship

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Strategy is decision-making
Strategy is the most important to-do list. Its
a plan that points in a clear direction. John
Knecht Strategy assumes that doing something
is better than doing nothing. John Pipino,
Doblin, Inc.
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Strategy is evolution to address world change

• Strategy is the great Work of the organization.
  In situations of life or death, it is the Tao of
  survival or extinction.
• Sun Tzu, from R.L. Wings The Art of
  Strategy a new translation of The Art of War
• Grow or Die
• George Land, strategy theorist onthe unifying
  principle of transformation

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Strategy is. . .

• . . . a story about change and shift
• . . . a direction that points to a definitive
  path
• . . . a plan of action with a roadmap
• . . . a focus that explains what youre notgoing
  to do

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What is in a strategic plan?
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A good strategy has four components

• Mission/Vision
• Strategic MECE goals
• Smart initiatives
• Action plans
• These build on top of each other like a pyramid

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Mission/Vision

• A mission and/or vision inspires, motivates, and
  creates community moving in aligned direction
• Vision is what the organization believes is true
  about the present, about the future
• We believe that. . . .
• Mission is a concise, inspiring statement that
  describes where the organization is moving
• We will achieve. . . .

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Strategic Goals

• Strategic goals are two-to-three broad paths that
  each accomplish the mission
• Great goals should be MECE mutually-exclusive
  and collectively-exhaustive
• They dont overlap, but together make up an
  entire solution
• They are independent but work together

Mission
Strategicgoal
Strategicgoal
Strategicgoal
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SMART Initiatives

• Initiatives are two-to-three projects that will
  accomplish each strategic goal
• Each initiative is SMART
• Specific
• Measurable
• Achievable
• Reasonable
• Time-sensitive
• This is where the organization gets specific
  about project work

Mission
Strategicgoal
Strategicgoal
Strategicgoal
initiative
initiative
initiative
initiative
initiative
initiative
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Action Plans

• Action Plans are the specific to-dos for each
  initiative
• Includes owners and due-dates
• Should have direct impact on each area of the
  organization, especially
• Human Resources who is responsible?
• Finance Fundraising how do we fund growth?
• Operations what resources are needed, when
  will it be done?
• Research Development do we need to do
  something new?
• Partnerships
• who do we align with?

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How do we make a strategic plan?
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The strategic process

• While the end result is a nice tight story, the
  process is messy, messy, messy.

Strategy
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The strategy development 10-step
2. Research external and internal environments
Researcher
4. Review the mission/vision does it still
apply? Committee
1. Establish committee/communication channels
Leadership
5. Draft goals initiatives Committee
7. Prioritize initiatives and draft action plans
Org leaders
9. Align with operating plan/annual budget Org
leaders
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Critical success factors

• Great strategy committee
• Stakeholder buy-in
• Quality research
• Stakeholder buy-in
• Organized strategy process
• Stakeholder buy-in

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The biggest danger

• Warning
• Many strategies are beautiful but remain on the
  shelf
• Why?
• They dont have everyones buy-in
• Therefore, the rule of thumb
• 50 of the time spent on strategy development
• 50 on stakeholder communication

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Some tips on strategy development

• Tip 1 Develop a diverse committee
• include different styles, roles and backgrounds
• Tip 2 Get some outside assistance on research
• its a big job with many subjective opinions
• Tip 3 Set committee and stakeholder meetings
  early!!
• the number one time killer. . .
• Tip 4 Continue to gut check throughout
• ask are we doing something visionary and
  different? andare we eliminating paths/options?

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How do we apply this?
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What are your needs?

• Before you leave today, examine three things
• List the biggest shifts happening to your
  environment/organization
• List your biggest strategic need
• Updated mission/vision
• Better MECE goals
• SMART initiatives
• Specific action plans
• All of the above!
• List what you think the toughest part of the
  process will be
• Committee creation
• Research
• Strategy development
• Stakeholder dialogue
• Strategy implementation

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References
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Research Checklist things to look at

• To create a concise background story about the
  changing environment and the strengths and
  weaknesses of the organization, we must look at.
  . .
• External research (shifts)
• Competitor/partnership analysis
  (strengths/weaknesses)
• Customer analysis (needs assessments)
• General market trends (bibliographic research)
• Internal research (strengths/weaknesses)
• marketing/PR, fundraising, volunteers,
  leadership, board, staff, volunteers, partner
  relationships, operations, financials,
  technology, artists, real estate . . . others?

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Research Checklist ways to gather info

• Interviews talk one-on-one to the broad range
  of stakeholders
• Surveys send out large numbers of surveys to
  stakeholders have them rate your organization
• Bibliographic research search the Internet,
  books and journals on relevant topics
• Track customers follow the types of customers
  you have and their needs
• Financial tracking over last 5-10 years, track
  expenses and revenue sources
• Marketing/PR history what have the messages
  been to the audience?

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References

• Good Books
• Contemporary Strategy Analysis - Robert Grant
• How Effective Non-profits Work Giving Greater
  Chicago
• Managing the Non-profit Organization Peter
  Drucker
• The Goal Eliyahu Goldratt
• Techniques of Financial Analysis Erich Helfert
• The Marketing Paradigm Messinger
• On Leadership John Gardner
• Organizational Theory Gareth Jones
• In Good Company Don Cohen, Laurence Prusak
• The Minto Pyramid Principle Barbara Minto

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References

• Websites
• www.givinggreaterchicago.org
• www.mckinseyquarterly.com
• www.harvardbusinessonline.com
• www.strategy-business.com
• www.census.gov
• www.artsusa.org
• www.oriscus.com/tp (tech assistance)
• www.gsb.stanford.edu/csi/
• www.artstabilization.org/
• Journals
• Harvard Business Review
• McKinsey Quarterly

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Follow up questions, contact

• John Knecht
• 773.580.9337 (c)
• johnbamusic_at_hotmail.com