Put a Bank on Your Pond

Have you been part of strategic planning in your organization? You need good numbers to really plan strategically. Otherwise, you are just guessing on your direction and your progress. My favorite quote of the week comes from Larry Short, a manager in the Tech organization for CEOs. He tells me Ken Blanchard, of One Minute Manager fame told him that "a river has to have banks to be more than a pond."

I think this is a terrific analogy for planning. The banks steer the course of what otherwise would just be a still, placid pond. The force of the banked river moves the organization's objectives forward. But, they have direction, impetus, commitment and flow. They are channeled so all of the energy is moving in the same direction. Now, that's good strategic planning in the context of a complete strategic planning framework.