Seven Rules of Strategic Guessing

Rule Number Five

 

The incredible rule number five is that you must face the brutal facts confronting your company. This is a command, if you will, given to us by Jim Collins in Good to Great. It means honestly facing the issues that challenge your organization, determining solutions, and implementing them in an intelligent way.

 

Your planning team can do this by defining critical issues facing the growth of the company both now and in the future. Let’s say you’re a training company that utilizes technology. Some of the questions you ask your planning team might be:

1. How is the organization going to transition from our old CD-ROM technology to the new “streaming” technology? How are we going to fund this transition?
2. What new products are we bringing out in the next year?
3. How are we going to grow 20 percent per year for the next three years?
4. What improvements do we need to make for us to reduce costs by 10 percent?

Typically, these types of critical issues are addressed by writing a white paper.

 

“What is that?” you ask.

 

“Good question!” I respond.

 

A white paper is a three- to five-page paper that addresses the critical issue. Sometimes a white paper will take on a number of critical issues that are similar in nature. For instance, the white paper “What is Our 2012 Sales and Marketing Plan?” might address the issues of (a) what new products are being introduced next year and (b) how to grow by 20 percent. However, it would not explore the question of what improvements need to be made in the plant to reduce costs by 10 percent. This issue would need a white paper of its own.

 

White papers are written between planning sessions by the members of the leadership group who are best suited to address the problem. This group can also include members outside the planning team who have useful knowledge to contribute.

 

The paper outlines research and analysis for the issues and provides the “answer” submitted by the smaller group to the entire planning team. The entire planning team will read the paper prior to the second session; everyone is invited to bring feedback, questions, and concerns. In the second session, the critical issues are dealt with and problem solving can occur.

 

For more information about writing white papers click here.