“Most strategic plans don’t work. They involve too much paper, too much time, too many nodding heads, and far too many poorly informed so-called experts,” wrote James F. Hollan, chief executive officer at Globalization and Localization Association, ranting about “The Perils of Strategic Planning“.

Strategic plans are not necessary outcomes of strategic planning. The actual plans are necessities of communication. For the same reasons that we set agendas, we write strategic plans. For the same reasons that we record minutes, we write strategic plans.

When we don’t need to communicate, we don’t need plans. When we don’t need to learn from the past, we don’t need plans. As association leaders, communication is our business. Learning from our mistakes is vital to advancing our missions. We need plans. We need planning even more.

Everything “strategic planning” is about the process. Plan templates assist with collecting and organizing information. Facilitators are tour guides. Planners should adopt a process orientation. After all, strategic planning is the process of bringing people together to think critically about issues whose resolutions are keys to the success and long-term sustainability of organizations. Who would agree that willful ignorance of the issues central to the continued existence of their association is good for the gander?

Hollan is not mistaken though: most strategic plans really don’t work! The cause, however, is not because strategic planning is a wasteful luxury, but because most attempts at strategic planning falter. Most planners simply miss the point — they fail to recognize that engaging in strategic planning for the plan is as useful as having a meeting for the minutes.