Mention strategic planning and people think of charts and mission statements when it is more understanding yourself and the world you want to work in. I recently did a workshop on the subject and wanted to share a few observations from the event in the current podcast.
You can imagine the surprise of the participants when I made the statement that “Strategic planning is not really about planning”. To quote Michael Porter of Harvard Business School, one of the leading theorists in business Strategic planning: “Strategic planning is concerned with defining competitive advantage and the development of activities, resources, and capabilities that enable sustaining that advantage in a rapidly changing environment.”
In simpler terms: Before you decide what you want to do, you need to define what it is you do that gives you an advantage, and how you want to use your resources to support that advantage. 
One of the biggest mistake businesses (and individuals) make is changing themselves to the point that they are just like everyone else and once that happens your potential customer has nothing to separate you from the guy down the street.
Every business or individual is good at something and it makes sense, as any sports coach will tell you, to play to your strengths. This means you need to decide what you are able to do well right now, which makes it a matter of focus. A good example is that you play both golf and tennis. You play golf like a pro but for tennis you are at best, average. And yet, half of your time is spent playing golf and the other half tennis. In this case it’s better to focus your efforts on playing golf which has the potential to produce better than average results, with less time spent playing tennis. At the very least with the profits you might gain from golf you could afford tennis lessons to improve your skill there at a later date.
The concept of focus is important because many people attempt to cover a multitude of areas, and ultimately end up being spread so thin they are constantly putting out fires that didn’t need to happen. That means breaking down every aspect of your process so you know exactly what it is that people like about you or your company. In this way you have gotten down to the secret sauce that makes you special. Once you know this, then you can begin to look at ways to support the thing that will offer the greatest return for your efforts. Having a clear idea of what you are capable of providing goes a long way toward filling in the blanks of cost, niche, or the market you want to go after.
Strategic planning is not about planning, at least in the beginning, and is comparable to you or your business sitting in a therapist’s chair and working to understand how you see the world and the world sees you. And then deciding what traits you think have the best chance of bringing the greatest benefit to your working life.
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