Strategic planning
Our Geelong, Ballarat and Melbourne-based team delivers practical support to organisations across Australia
Strategic planning is distinct from business planning. While business planning tends to focus on operational execution, resources, budgets and near-term performance, strategic planning asks the broader questions of direction, purpose and positioning. It creates the space to consider where the organisation is going, why that destination matters, and what choices will be required to move from current reality to the preferred future.
Strategic planning reflects the “Balcony and the Dancefloor” metaphor. The dancefloor is where all the action is, yet we need leaders to spend (some) time out of the action, observing from above. Strategic planning is to be done from the balcony.
For the process to be effective, leadership must be genuinely motivated to step back from the dancefloor and engage fully in the balcony work. Strategic planning is not something that can be delegated or completed in isolation; it depends on open participation, shared ownership and the full cooperation of those who will shape, resource and ultimately lead the plan into action.
When on the balcony, we work with you to develop the plan. Together we:
- Establish a clear understanding of our current reality (macro)
- Connect to our purpose; our preferred future (drivers)
- Establish shared understanding of how we are viewed, the opportunities and threats, and the navigable pathway ahead
- Establish current and future capability and capacity requirements in five distinct strategic pillars (enablers)
- Establish a shared agreement and lines of responsibility for corporate objectives aligned to the destination.
Meet your strategic planning experts
Our team brings practical experience to help you define direction and achieve meaningful outcomes.
Strategic drivers and enablers
At the base of the strategic planning process sit two important concepts: strategic drivers and strategic enablers. Drivers are the elements that motivate the strategy; they represent the “why” behind the organisation’s direction and connect the plan to purpose, aspiration and preferred future. They provide the reason to move, the energy to sustain momentum and the clarity needed to make choices.
Enablers are the elements that stimulate progress and create the platform for the strategy to be realised. They include the capabilities, capacity, systems, structures, relationships and resources required to translate strategic intent into action. In this way, drivers help define why the organisation must move, while enablers determine how it can move with confidence and discipline.