Guide to Strategic Planning: Part 3 – Defining Strategic Imperatives
Unlocking Strategic Success: The Role of Strategic Imperatives
Strategic imperatives are the cornerstone of any robust strategic plan, acting as the fulcrum around which all strategic efforts pivot. Identifying these imperatives is not just a step in the strategic planning process; it’s the very heart of it, providing the clarity needed to focus on what truly matters for your business.
“A goal without a plan is just a wish.” Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
The Seesaw of Strategic Planning
Imagine strategic planning as a seesaw, with your vision, mission, and purpose on one end and the key jobs that need to be done to realise that vision on the other. Strategic imperatives are the pivot point—the fulcrum—of this seesaw. They represent the critical tasks and initiatives that, if executed, will naturally unlock significant value and propel your business towards its goals.
Identifying Strategic Imperatives: Best Practices
- External and Internal Assessments: Utilise tools like PESTEL analysis for an external viewpoint or SWOT analysis to understand your strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. This holistic perspective helps float strategic imperatives to the surface.
- Capabilities Gap Analysis: Identify the essential capabilities your business needs to achieve its vision but currently lacks. This gap analysis highlights areas for development that are imperative for strategic success.
- Synthesising Insights: Rather than transcribing every output of your analyses into a to-do list, aim to distil them into a concise set of four to six strategic imperatives. These should be the transformative tasks that will drive the most significant impact.
The Power of Clarity
With a clear set of strategic imperatives, your business gains razor-sharp focus on what needs to be accomplished. This clarity enables you to direct resources and efforts towards these pivotal areas effectively, ensuring that every action taken is aligned with your strategic goals.
Starting with Sophistication
Strategic imperatives can begin at any level of sophistication. Often, business owners instinctively know the key tasks for the year. However, the challenge lies in elevating this understanding from immediate, known issues to a broader, opportunity-centric view that unlocks growth and transformation.
Beyond the Imperatives: Implementation
Once your strategic imperatives are defined, the planning process shifts to implementation: who will do it, how it will be done, and when. Understanding your strategic imperatives simplifies these subsequent steps, making the path to achieving your goals clearer and more straightforward.
Conclusion: The Fulcrum of Strategic Planning
By centring your strategic planning around identifying strategic imperatives, you position your business to navigate the next three to five years with confidence and purpose. This approach simplifies the strategic planning process and ensures that every effort is aligned with your ultimate vision for success.
Join the Conversation
Board Associates is committed to education and fostering a dialogue around strategic planning so we invite you to join us in this conversation. Monthly, from February to April, we will host a lunch & learn session dedicated to discussing strategic planning in an informal setting. This is an opportunity to delve deeper into strategic planning, ask questions, and share insights with peers. If you’d like to participate, you can register for one of the upcoming lunch & learn sessions here:
- February Strategic Planning Lunch & Learn
- March Strategic Planning Lunch & Learn
- April Strategic Planning Lunch & Learn
Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors and Chairman of a number of family and private enterprises, Matthew is the founder of Board Associates and specialises in innovation and strategic marketing.
