I recently had the pleasure to participate in an Agile Project Management workshop at the University of Toronto. Facilitated by the always engaging Ori Schibi, this event looked at Agile from a practitioner’s viewpoint, and included a comparative analysis against other project delivery methodologies. While much of the program was framed in a technology context, the applicability of Agile principles to Strategic Planning was evident.
Too often, organizations complete the strategic planning process with best of intentions – subsequent operational and policy decisions are made to support the stated strategy, but this rigidity gives way to apathy, and eventually, ambivalence. Why? Because by the time traditional strategic planning is complete, much has already changed. Who hasn’t participated in a time-consuming planning process, only to have its key champion step away from their post? Or, have a new competitive threat emerge that changes the game completely. Maybe it’s a big deal prospect that requires “all hands”, putting the strategy on hold for a time that will never materialize.
This lack of flexibility and responsiveness was inherent in waterfall software development – a methodology that today has been largely supplanted by Agile (and variations thereof). While the specific approach varies (think Scrum, Dynamic Systems Delivery, Extreme Programming, and so on), the underlying idea is that requirements can and will change through the life of a project, and organizations benefit from early delivery of value. Hence the need for an iterative and incremental approach, respectively. Like Agile development, business strategy must be equally adaptive to change, and capable of contributing value early in the process.
So what would this look like? In short, participation would entail a broader cross-section of stakeholders, and not limited to Executive ranks. Formal, drawn-out planning workshops would be jettisoned, and replaced by more frequent and action-oriented sessions where business requirements and corresponding solutions are fomented. A focus on near-term deliverables, within the context of a longer-term roadmap (or release schedule in Agile terms)
The time and financial investment in formal strategic planning has been hard to justify by many small and medium-sized organizations – all the more reason to adopt an Agile approach that will be more responsive to a changing environment, and delivery tangible value right away.