A Strategic Plan Should Be a Decision-Making Tool, Not a Coffee-Table Book

5 days ago
6 min read

A Strategic Plan Should Be a Decision-Making Tool, Not a Coffee-Table Book

I've seen some beautiful strategic plans over the years. Thick paper. Gorgeous photography. Inspirational quotes. Color-coded priorities. One organization even handed me a plan that looked expensive enough to have its own insurance policy.

There was just one problem: Nobody was using it.

That's more common than nonprofit leaders like to admit. Organizations spend months creating strategic plans, celebrate when the board approves them, distribute a few polished copies, and then quietly place them on shelves. Six months later, somebody pulls one out during the next strategic planning update session and says, "Huh. I forgot we said we'd do that."

A strategic plan isn't supposed to document what you decided. It's supposed to help you make the decisions that come next.

Pretty Isn't a Strategy

I'm all for making a strategic plan attractive. If people are going to read something, there's no reason it needs to look like it was produced by the Department of Motor Vehicles.

But design isn't strategy.

I've reviewed plans containing 60 objectives, 90 action items, nine strategic pillars, 12 core values, a new mission statement, a revised vision statement, and enough inspirational language to launch a small religion. They look impressive.

Then I ask a simple question: "What are the three most important things this organization needs to accomplish?" Silence.

If your strategic plan can't answer that question, you've created a document—not a strategy.

Strategy Is About Choices

One of the biggest misconceptions I encounter when facilitating strategic planning sessions is that the goal is to capture everyone's ideas, or to grind through the operational shortfalls in every functional area (department) of the organization. It isn't.

The goal is to make choices.

Organizations don't suffer from a shortage of good ideas. They suffer from limited money, limited staff, limited board capacity, and a pesky little constraint known as time.

A strategic plan should help leaders determine which opportunities deserve those scarce resources—and which don't.

That's why some of the best strategic planning sessions I've facilitated have ended with fewer priorities than we started with. Adding things is easy. Choosing is hard.

That's why it's called strategy.

The Real Test Comes Six Months Later

The quality of a strategic plan isn't determined on the afternoon the board approves it. The real test comes six months later when an unexpected opportunity lands on the CEO's desk.

A donor offers funding for a new program. A potential partner proposes an expansion. A board member arrives with "an incredible idea." A staff member wants to launch an initiative that sounds genuinely worthwhile.

What happens next?

Without a strong strategy, organizations tend to evaluate each opportunity independently: Is this a good idea? That's the wrong question.

The better question is: Does this opportunity move our strategic priorities forward?

Plenty of good ideas deserve a no.

What I've Seen in Strategic Planning Sessions

When I facilitate strategic planning sessions, I often ask leaders to identify their organization's most important priorities. The first round might produce 10 or more. Everyone can defend theirs, and usually they're all reasonable.

That's precisely the problem.

The real work begins when I tell the group they can only choose three -- maybe four. Suddenly the conversation changes. People stop advocating exclusively for what they like and begin evaluating what matters most. They debate impact, urgency, capacity, risk, resources, and timing.

That's strategic thinking.

The best strategic planning sessions don't produce the longest list. They produce the clearest choices.

Your Plan Should Help You Say No

Here's an underrated characteristic of a great strategic plan: It gives leaders permission to say no.

Nonprofits are notoriously bad at this because almost every opportunity comes wrapped in a worthy cause. Saying no to a program that helps people feels uncomfortable. Saying no to a generous donor's idea feels downright dangerous. Saying no to an enthusiastic board member can make Thanksgiving with that board member seem appealing by comparison.

But organizations that say yes to everything eventually become mediocre at everything.

A good strategic plan provides cover. The CEO doesn't have to say, "I don't like your idea." The CEO can say, "It's a worthwhile idea, but it doesn't align with the priorities we've agreed are most important right now."

That's not bureaucracy. That's discipline.

Put the Plan in the Room

One of the simplest recommendations I give organizations after facilitating a strategic planning session is also one of the least glamorous: Use the damn thing.

Put the strategic priorities on board agendas. Review progress regularly. Reference them when approving budgets. Use them during CEO evaluations. Discuss them when major opportunities arise. Connect committee work to them. Keep it front and center!

When I return to an organization for another strategic planning session, I want to see evidence that the previous plan has been guiding decisions—not discover that nobody has looked at it in months.

Strategy should be present when decisions are being made. Otherwise, it's decoration.

Build a Plan People Can Remember

There's another practical test I use: Ask board members to name the organization's strategic priorities without looking at the document.

They don't need to recite them word for word. But if nobody can remember what they are, that's useful information.

Complexity is often mistaken for sophistication. In reality, the strongest strategies are usually remarkably clear. Three or four priorities that everyone understands and uses will outperform 17 priorities that nobody remembers.

A strategic plan should provide a compass, not an encyclopedia.

The Plan Is Not the Finish Line

There is often tremendous relief when a strategic planning process ends. The board approves the plan. Everyone congratulates one another. Someone orders lunch. The facilitator goes home.

But approval isn't the finish line. It's the starting gun.

The real strategic work happens afterward, when budgets must change, programs must be evaluated, resources must be shifted, people must take ownership and be held responsible, and attractive opportunities must occasionally be declined.

The best strategic planning sessions create clarity about those choices before everyone leaves the room. They don't simply produce consensus around a document; they establish a framework leaders can actually use.

If nothing changes after the strategic plan is approved, there's a reasonable possibility you didn't create a strategy . . . you created a souvenir.

Takeaways

A strategic plan should guide future decisions, not merely document past discussions.
Strategy requires tough choices. If everything is a priority, nothing is.
A strong strategic plan should make it easier for leaders to say no.
Keep the number of priorities to three or four so that board and staff leaders can actually remember them.
Use strategic priorities when setting budgets, evaluating leadership, considering new programs, and establishing board agendas.
Great strategic planning sessions produce clarity and choices—not longer lists.
Approval of the strategic plan isn't the end of strategic planning. It's when implementation begins.

Final Thoughts

I've seen strategic plans that could win design awards and others that looked like somebody created them in Word at 11:47 p.m. The appearance has never predicted which organization will be more successful.

What matters is whether leaders use the plan when the choices get difficult. A great strategic plan and the best strategic planning sessions should influence where you spend money, where you invest time, what opportunities you pursue, and—perhaps most importantly—what you decide not to do.

So make it attractive if you'd like. Print it on nice paper. Put some beautiful photographs in it.

Just remember . . .

The best strategic plan isn't the one sitting on your coffee table. It's the one sitting in the middle of your toughest decisions.

Tom Iselin

Rated One of America’s Best Board Retreat

and Strategic Planning Facilitators

About the Author

Tom Iselin is recognized as one of America’s leading authorities on high-performance nonprofits. He has built nine sector-leading nonprofits and two software companies, written six books, sits on multiple boards, and has been rated one of America’s Best Board Retreat and Strategic Planning Facilitators. His work on nonprofit strategy, board leadership, and culture has been featured on CNN, Nightline, and in Newsweek.

Tom is the president of First Things First, a firm specializing in board retreats, strategic planning services, fundraising strategy, and executive coaching for nonprofit CEOs.

Board Retreats & Strategic Planning

If you’re looking for a board retreat facilitator or strategic planning facilitator who has been in the trenches and understands real-world nonprofit challenges, Tom can help your board gain clarity, build alignment, and create an actionable plan that improves performance and impact. His sessions propel organizations to the next level of performance and impact . . . and they're fun!

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