What is the purpose of strategic reflection?

Startegy is the second most important and highest risk activity of an organization's leadership. Whether small or large, very few organizations and leaders understand what it takes to create an effective and useful strategic plan.

First, let's differentiate between strategy, and tactics.

Strategy represents the direction for an organization and it usually includes one or more big picture destinations that are desired by the leadership.  While Tactics are the day-to-day operational "ways and means" an organization employs to achieve the big picture objectives.

These terms are often used synonymously and it represents one of the major problems in many planning initiatives. Managers cannot effectively think strategically and tactically at the same time. In other words, every time that a strategic planning session denigrates into talking about tactical issues, the effectiveness of the strategic discussion is lost.

Effective strategic planning is a process that should be broken down into three separate, yet equally vital, components. These are strategic thinking, long range planning, and operational planning.

The following is a brief summary of these three components in the strategic planning process:

First: Strategic thinking - this first component is intuitive by nature. It addresses the big picture questions of an organization, such as:

 1. Who are we?

 2. Why are we in business?

3. What business are we in?

 4. What business should we be in?

 5. Who are our customers?

6. Who should our customers be?

7. What impact will external factors have on our business in the future ?

Second: reflective strategic thinking about an organization's mission, vision, values, and 10 - 20 year objectives e.g. (What do we want to be known for at some distant point in the future?) It includes a broad look at what makes an organization unique, including its internal strengths and limitations as well as the external opportunities and threats that will likely shape the organization in the future. The focus in this component of strategic planning is on intuition, reflection and "feeling" the organization's future at a deeper, contemplative level.

Third: Long-range planning - analytical by nature, this component focuses on studying the critical strategic issues of the organization with facts, figures, and research. It should include an in-depth understanding of the marketplace, the competition, along with more detailed analysis (metrics) regarding the organization's strengths, limitations, opportunities and threats. The purpose of this phase is to validate or adjust the conclusions reached through the more intuitive strategic thinking and it should result in committing to 5 - 7 major strategic objectives for the organization to focus on in the coming years (usually a 3 - 5 year time span). Just as it is critical for the strategic thinking phase to be intuitive, it is critical for the long-range planning phase to be more analytical, rich in facts, figures, and detailed analysis. Without both intuitive and analytical thinking, the recipe is incomplete and the final product will be lacking.

Fourth: Operational planning - the final phase of strategic planning should include a detailed commitment to 12 - 18 month goals, with action plans, timelines, assignments, and systems of accountability. These goals should be the result of the first two components and, after a sufficient amount of ideological debate, there should be total commitment from management toward the achievement of these goals. Effective goals are SMART goals, meaning that these goals should all be written in a way that is Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound. The operational plan should also include schedules for plan review, adjustment, and ongoing measurement of the plan's execution. Once again, this is a very different component and one that is rarely considered properly or connected effectively to strategic planning overall.

On sum, Most organizational leaders excel in only one of the three phases of strategic planning. As a result, organizations experience some disconnect and loss Strategic clarity. Powerful results. focus or energy between the creation and execution of an effective strategic plan.

Reference:  Ron Price S, REFLECTIONS ON STRATEGIC PLANNING 

The rte of change of best practices is changing at the speed of light. New business, new products and new concepts are being launched weekly. It is crucial to see which elements of technology, design and infrastructure are working better that our own before we end up being like Kodak.

Hence it is crucial to Stop- Reflect- Learn- Apply current best practises.