Lighting the Way
Article by LEAD Director Garth Nowland-Foreman
Increasingly, we are being asked to help a number of organisations in their strategic planning – with at least one well-established and substantial organisation, reaching out for support on their very first strategy. We suspect that part of this surge in interest is as a result of us “coming out of Covid” (always said with air quotation marks and fingers firmly crossed!).
Our sector is full of activists. Is it no wonder people are interested in taking back control – to stop being buffeted around by unpredictable forces beyond us, and to reset our course in light of the new realities. We suspect we will see another mini version of this surge, as folk begin to recover from the various devastating North Island climate events.
Development is an innate and natural process in all living things (including organisations). The process of development is well established and needs to be treated with respect. Our first key step as capacity-builders, therefore, is in gaining a deeper appreciation of where an organisation is located on its own path of development (where it has come from, how it has changed along the way, and what its next risks and challenges might be), and understand the implications.
Moreover, development does not occur along a smooth, unimpeded line. A key task for us is to enable empowerment or ‘facilitate resourcefulness’ of an organisation, based on its inherent assets, in order to flexibly adapt to unanticipated changes or new developments. The approach we have found most helpful in enabling this, builds on three foundational pou (supporting poles):
‘Begin with the end in mind’ (So we have both a strong and clear direction in which to head, and agreed criteria to assess any decision or prioritising against. We sometimes refer to this as being clear and agreed about the ‘horizon we are swimming towards’. This enables a strong impact or change of focus.)
‘Build on strengths’ (So we have both a firm foundation to build on, and progress is more achievable – aware of the risks, but going with the flow as we move forward, and building on the natural momentum and capabilities of an organisation)
‘‘Sensing the emerging edges’ (So we are intentionally looking out for the opportunities and possibilities that are emerging – often already there at the creative, growing edges).
There is no such thing as a single form or template of a strategic plan. We often argue the very idea of a strategic plan is an oxymoron. What is a ‘strategic plan’? A contingency approach has already taught us that the answer to every important question is: ‘It depends’.
Our friends at Social Impact Architects, for example, offer the following five, very different types of ‘strategic plans’ (and that is just the beginning of the variety of different strategic organisational needs depending on your context, your stage of development, your field of work, and your resources):
They also sum up our approach very well, when they say the point of a strategic plan isn’t to create a piece of paper ; it's about creating clarity and momentum for your organisation.
One of the many aspects of Matariki is remembering our past (what we have learnt from those who went before us), reflecting on our present (where are we, and what is the winding path that brought us here?), and anticipating the future (imagining the path ahead).
What better time to think about what kind of reset your organisation might need. Talk to us at LEAD (info@lead.org.nz) if you’d like help in setting up a process that will do just that.