7 Reasons Why Strategic Planning Can Fail

When the Japanese shocked the American car industry back in the Seventies, everyone wanted to study their strategy and methods. Surprisingly, the Japanese had embraced the American Total Quality Management methodology by Dr. Deming which had been turned down by American manufacturers. When I received Max Carbone's description of strategy, I was reminded of Dr. Deming and his TQM framework which had as the last step of the cycle - celebrate! Read below Max's comments on strategy and Number 7. I rarely see this point made in business. 

1.  Weak Market Insights

Many leaders and teams engage in strategic planning without having sufficient knowledge about market needs and competitive position.  Having independent research to identify what your customers want, what they think of your firm and how you compare to your competitors is invaluable to know what your game plan needs to be.

2.  Lack of Shared Vision & Values

Leaders that don't invest the time to craft their vision and values will inevitably have teams who waste precious energy by working at cross purposes.  Successful investors, business leaders and management gurus all agree that winning teams develop and live by a common vision and set of values to drive results. 

3.  Unfocused Targets

Leaders, individuals or teams without focused, quantified goals tend to drift and simply don't achieve what they are capable of.  Crafting an agreed upon set of goals, strategies and actions by any team is the best way to realize business potential.

4.  No Accountability

It's great to come up with a plan, but without holding team members accountable to one another, even an exceptional plan is likely to fail.  Having a disciplined process in place to ensure accountability will significantly improve performance. 

5.  Poor Implementation

Studies show that high performing teams must be in the top quartile of performance as determined by their customers to achieve exceptional results.  Creating a culture where great implementation is expected is an imperative for any business leader.

6.  Inappropriate Behavior

Surprisingly, more than 25% of team members in any company may have the education and experience, but the simply don't have the right psychological behavioral profile to play their position!  Leaders need to know the profile of their team to ensure they have the ability to perform in their role.

7.  No Fun, Adventure or Spirit

Finally, the best game plans need to be engaging, fun and adventurous.  Building a positive team spirit is probably the most important and challenging work of any leader.  Making business fun is what the greatest leaders do.  It may be the greatest single attribute between a strategic plan that works and one that doesn't.


Max Carbone, Teamworks.416.721.6359