Steve Jarron

 Most strategic plans sit on shelves  85% of strategic plans are useless (Steven Bowman)  % of strategies result in implementation failures (Robert Kaplan & David Norton)  The CEO’s and Boards agree with these figures (Steven Bowman)

 A weak mission statement  Confusion between Mission and Vision  Strategic planning exercises get bogged down  Generic/bland statements  Star Community Services

The Star Mission: ‘We lead, facilitate, develop, and deliver services and support for our communities, with our communities’  Is this a goal?  How will they know when they get there?

 A weak mission statement  Confusion between Mission and Vision  Generic/bland statements  Star Community Services  Uninspirational statements  Brisbane City Council

Our Mission: To make Brisbane Australia’s Most Liveable City

 A weak mission statement  Confusion between Mission and Vision  Generic/bland statements  Star Community Services  Uninspirational statements  Brisbane City Council  Therapeutic and inspirational to review the mission

 The thicker the plan – the more likely it is to fail  Many plans are tied to ‘Departments’  Many contain ‘Business as Usual’  Many plans are tied to the budget  People don’t like reading  Dalby Regional Council  Inverted pyramid  Rates notices

 Too cumbersome to inspire people  No challenge – ‘To maintain………..’  The Plan is not SMART

 Failure to look beyond the immediate  The future is now 3 years – not 3 months  Yellow Pages  Mergers & acquisitions  Reluctance to address the big issues  Tendency to be risk averse  Facts Vs Emotion  There are people who make things happen  There are people who watch things happen  But – the majority of people wonder what’s happened!

 A feeling of being in on things (Foreman Facts, from the Labor Relations Institute of NY – 1949)  The whole team should be involved  No clear link to the Mission – strategies must cascade down into clear actions and activities for everyone

Each strategy must contain:  A clear action verb, a metric and a clear window of execution  A nominated accountable person or champion

 The strategies must remain foremost in management decision-making  Strategy Meetings should be held weekly (without exception)  Progress should be reported monthly (as a regular item agenda)  Communicate and celebrate your successes

1. Develop an inspirational Mission 2. Create a clear and concise Plan to get there 3. Check that the Plan is ‘alive’ with challenges 4. Look innovatively at future opportunities 5. Take the whole team on the journey with you 6. Hold the Champions accountable for results 7. Monitor, communicate and celebrate success