Sometimes the best way to think about how to solve a problem is to look outside of the domain you are working in. Where is there an analogous situation that you can learn something from? In this case, the problem we are trying to understand is why are people so unsatisfied with their strategic plans? If two-thirds or organizations are not satisfied with their plans, then clearly a lot of organizations would have trouble with the challenge of keeping the ‘main thing the main thing’. Perhaps we can look to the fields of fitness and finance to learn why.
Strategic planning and planning for fitness and finance have a lot in common.
Let’s start with fitness. There is virtually no dispute that leading an active lifestyle with a focus on movement, flexibility, cardiorespiratory health and strength training produces innumerable physical and psychological benefits. In the US alone, the spending between gym memberships and home fitness equipment runs to about $44B annually. Yet about only 1 in 5 adults actually follows a fitness plan. People are clearly spending the money, and have intent to engage in fitness, but the vast majority don’t keep the main thing the main thing.
Personal finance is an even more daunting challenge. According to recent studies in the US only 22% of adults give themselves a ‘high score’ for financial wellness. And while 70% claim to have a budget, only 25% say they follow it! Again, based on a US study, although almost 80% of respondents claim to have a documented retirement plan, the average amount actually saved is only about 20% of what a retiree would require when they stop working.
So why, despite the knowledge that planning for both fitness and finance are good and necessary ‘main things’ things to do, and with so much information at their disposal, do people struggle to build a plan that gets them where the aspire to be?
As we thought about our EPIC planning model, and what gets in the way of having a successful strategy and plan, we zeroed in on two aspects we think are critical to success. The first is having clear accountability – who is actually responsible for making sure the action that will cause the change to happen is taking place. An important distinction here – we are not saying that person alone is solely responsible, because they will require support and resources. But someone (and it should be one person) must lead the effort to make sure the agreed to actions are being acted upon, and being monitored to make sure the assumptions about what everyone thought would work and produce the intended outcomes are actually working.
The second critical item is integrity – the plan has to ‘add up’, to make common sense. Yoga is a great form of exercise for flexibility and balance, but if your fitness goal is to lose 20 kilos in 4 months, you are going to need a different strategy than just practicing yoga. Your aspirations (the goal) must reasonably align to the activities you are doing (your strategies and tactics). There is always an element of the unknown, and it’s going to involve some change and ‘stretch’ (no pun intended) to reach the goal. But you have to be able to see some alignment and have permission to believe, otherwise you just have a dream with no path of achieving it. If the strategy has no integrity, no internal logic that you can share (and test along the way), if it’s not aligned, you don’t have a plan.
But even if your plan has clear accountability and integrity, there is still no guarantee. And the biggest factor working against you then is life. S&*t happens. You get busy. You get distracted. You lose focus and interest. Someone is pointing out that Company X over here is doing something, why aren’t we doing that too? The hard work of executing your plan requires patience and discipline, because the costs you are bearing are happening right now, and that uncertain pay-off is in the distance. Short-cuts are attractive!
No one is going to wake you up at 6:00 am and pack your bag to go to the gym. No one is going to put money away for you for you to save for a house or retirement. They are your goals, and you have to do the work. Keep it simple and actionable. And as we heard someone explain once – priorities are like limbs, and if you have more than 4 of them you might be delusional.
