Over and over this spring, leaders share with me in private that the future continues to be wildly unpredictable. And as a result, they question how much risk to take and how bold to be in their goal setting. They do not want to be caught flat footed, unprepared, or not easily able to adapt if new circumstances arise.
In these private meetings, the same executives are sharing with me that their organizations need to have fewer goals and more strategic focus areas. And I concur with their analysis. Leaders and companies need to build in strategic flexibility as they tentatively move forward in the midst of a still wildly unpredictable future.
One way to do this is for all senior teams and then all the other teams to sit down and define the differences between a strategic focus area, a strategic goal, and a strategic priority. Each of these three terms are being inter-changed quite rapidly in meetings this spring. By inter-changing these terms, we are creating quite a bit of confusion down in the organization and at the senior level meetings.
As a result, people now routinely ask me to define these terms, but I have been very hesitant. Given the many decades of doing this work, I have learned that it is best to let the people within an organization define the terms rather than to choose a generic dictionary definition or a more academic definition. This level of engaged definition work creates better clarity and ownership of the work that needs to be done once the terms are defined and utilized by those who will have to execute the work. In short, when we involve people who have to do the work in the defining of language and the subsequent decisions that go with it, I find that they can be counted on to make smart choices.
This week, sit down and engage in an in-depth group discussion about the aforementioned terms. In the process, you will be creating a strong foundation for ’23, ’24, and ’25.
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