In the weeks since we published our post urging leaders to overcome planning phobias we’ve received feedback and read other posts challenging strategic planning, citing the majority of plans fail because leadership teams put too much focus on the strategy and too little on executing the strategy.

Touché.

However, leaders must be mindful of the trap we refer to as “tactical flailing” in which no strategy informs the achievement of business goals or objectives through activities. It’s the equivalent of “Ready, Fire, Aim.”

Chances are high if you turn your R&D team or sales team or channel development team loose without a market-driven data-led strategy, the likelihood of success is low.

And if by chance you succeed, that’s hardly an efficient and effective approach.

We’re big advocates of Gen. George S. Patton’s observation, “A good plan, violently executed now, is better than a perfect plan next week.”  That’s why successful strategic plans spell out five key things:

1. Articulation of business goals and objectives
2. Identification of what needs to be done
3. Description of how those things will be done
4. Prioritization of the most critical things to execute
5. Metrics that show whether you’re on-track or need to course-correct

Similarly, successful strategic plans exhibit five characteristics:

1. They’re clear and leave no room for ambiguity
2. They’re based on facts and market data
3. They’re brutally honest in consideration of internal and external conditions
4. They’re concise, action-oriented and results-based free of what
5. They’re living documents that get reviewed and updated frequently

Most (if not all) organizations benefit from engaging a neutral third party that can guide leaders through a proven process of strategic planning and jumpstarting the critical next step of implementing and executing it.

For more about strategic planning best practices, read my articles about focusing the plan on what needs to be done (and what does not need to be done), prioritizing the most critical things to put the company on track to accomplish its business goals, and measuring things that matter to drive results, accountability and clarity.