Strategic planning is an exercise in clarifying what an organization is trying to achieve and how it proposes to achieve it. It is a way of visioning what the stakeholders want the organization to be, what it should accomplish, and what success will look like.  It is a way to build a vision of the organization’s best future, when it is successfully meeting its goals and making a difference.


To do this there needs to be a road map to that best future. The “Strategic” part is the thinking about the organization’s direction and what it does well. The “Planning” part is the detail work – the steps needed to reach that picture of success. Implementation, evaluation of outcomes achieved, and revisions to the plan complete the strategic planning process. The value of the strategic plan is not in the plan itself – we all know of those three ring binders that are collecting dust on book shelves. The real value is in the process of defining the shared key strategies, implementation, and resulting performance improvements that will result from the planning. 

It is our experience that organizations undertake a strategic planning process for four reasons:


1.  Affirm the Organization: Just bringing everyone together to discuss the future is powerful. The planning process can build a shared commitment and affirm why the members choose to be part of it.


2.  Discover the “Best Of” Constructive Planning: Involves thinking about what the organization does well and when it has performed at its best. When people in an organization know when they have performed successfully, they are likely to want to repeat those moments in the future.


3.  Clarify Future Thinking: Strategic Planning allows for a “pause” so that an organization can examine itself and determine if it is still headed toward its desired future. It is also a time to generate creative thinking, consider alternatives, raise questions, and revisit the mission, vision, and values.


4.  Transform the Present into the Future Through Action: Putting together an action plan is the way an organization will construct its future and transform its vision of the best into a reality. It will make positive things happen.

Hyden Consulting utilizes a strategic planning process based on Appreciative Inquiry (AI), called SOAR (Strengths, Opportunities, Aspirations, and Results). Used successfully by small and large organizations worldwide, AI is based on the simple idea that organizations move in the direction of focused direction – in the direction they ask questions about. For example, organizations that focused on problem areas and conflict, found that the number and severity of those problems increased. Conversely, when groups focus on achievements, accomplishments, best practices, these flourished.


Appreciative Inquiry distinguishes itself from other organizational change processes by purposefully asking positive questions – questions intended to ignite constructive dialogue and inspire action. The basic assumptions of AI are that people and organizations are full of untapped assets, capabilities, resources and strengths – opportunities that are just waiting to be located, unlocked, affirmed, and encouraged.

We can help you develop your next strategic plan or update an existing one that will serve as an organization-wide guide to major direction and preferred outcomes. We will work with you at every level of your organization to develop a plan that will target specific strategies that will optimize the services you provide, with an emphasis on maximizing resources, improving processes, and achieving targeted outcomes.


Contact us, click here to setup your consultation to discuss the scope of your project.

info@hydenconsulting.com