You’ve probably heard the old saying that “Hope isn’t a strategy”.
I’ve written a few words on the topic of Strategy, Tactics and Hope in the past and have even talked about minding the gap between strategy and tactics.
Most people and organizations understand – at least in theory – that they need a strategic plan to be successful. And…by strategic plan, I mean something that drives the direction of the organization….it could be a 500 page document or it could be a short half-page plan.
Many people / organizations take this strategic planning process very seriously. Teams are formed. Meetings are held. Numbers are crunched…and document written.
The outcome of a strategic planning process is the final plan (hopefully). Everyone signs off on the plan. Everyone looks at that plan as the saving grace of the organization.
Project teams are built. Implementation plans are developed. Everyone’s excited.
Then…nothing happens.
And…nothing continues to happen.
Why?
Various reasons of course. Granted…there are many organizations that build a strategic plan and do what needs to be done to make that plan a reality…but there are also many that don’t.
One common cause of failure that I’ve noticed in organizations is a simple one…nobody stops to really consider the tactical approach to the strategic plan.
Those same organizations that have eschewed hope as a strategy embrace it as a tactic. They ‘hope’ they have the right people in place. They ‘hope’ everyone knows their role and their responsibility in make the strategic plan a reality.
Now…no organization actually uses the word “hope” in their planning, but it becomes clear when the strategic plan is reviewed and compared to the implementation plan.
Granted…in my posted titled Strategy, Tactics and Hope, I used the word ‘hope’…but I meant it in a different way (really..I did!) 
In that article, ‘hope’ is from the employees side…they have to believe that they can achieve the goals in the strategic plan.
The hope that I’m talking about here is the replacement of the planning and thinking process with a “hoping” process.
These organizations build elaborate strategic plans but fail to build on elaborate tactical plans to reach their objectives and just hope that things are in place to meet their goals.
Don’t fall into the trap of hoping…hope isn’t a strategy….and its not a tactic either.
Image Credit: …Hope…By ĐāżŦ {bad contact, no biscuit} on flickr
