Disruptions. Pandemics. War. Market Instability. Global Warming. Restructuring. Misinformation. Espionage.
In an era marked by VUCA – volatility, uncertainty, complexity, ambiguity – organizational leaders, and humans in general, strive to weather the storms that threaten our survival.
Discussions ensue, emergency meetings pop up, plans are made, contingency plans are considered, and probabilities are calculated. If/Then decision trees are designed.
Knowing that even the best-laid plans rarely follow the script, industry leaders seek to maintain a healthy planning practice. One rooted in awareness and understanding; an awareness of ‘what we know right now’ and an understanding that ‘all of the rules and conditions can change in an instant.’
Organizations, like species, rise and fall, leaving behind lessons in their wake. Despite meticulous planning and alignment with mission, vision, and values (MVV), even industry giants can stumble. The missing link? People—the dynamic, emotional force driving every endeavor.
Does our current method truly make us agile and adaptive?
Let’s imagine a scenario we’re all too familiar with. Strategic planing retreats. Yawn.
The primary goal of most annual strategic planning retreats and the subsequent QBRs is to assess and align. Typical questions throughout the year include:
- What are the numbers?
- Where are we in relation to agreed upon KPIs?
- What needs to change?
Notice how cold these questions are.
Most people rarely get a warm, fuzzy feeling when the meeting invite pops up on their calendar. Typical strategic planning tends to turn stomachs and leave sour tastes behind.
Yet, this planning process has been key to organizational success since its inception.
It is believed to be the antidote to static business practices that lead to a loss in market share. A guarantee of sorts. ‘If you plan well, you will be agile, you will adapt, you will win.’
Yet, we seem to forget, we’re not dinosaurs, we’re humans.
The evolution and ultimate extinction of dinosaurs is riveting. We can learn a lot from evaluating their time on earth.
The same holds for organizations that were once considered to be at the top of the food chain. They dominated their respective markets. Their CEOs graced the covers of magazines.
And after they fell, they became great case studies.
Why the fall? The organizations were led by humans, the most adaptable of species.
- Didn’t they plan every year and continue to monitor, measure, and analyze?
- Weren’t they guided by their MVV?
- Wasn’t their USP remarkable and highly sought after by their customer base?
- Wasn’t everyone informed, involved, and on the same page?
Possibly.
We can do everything right, run the plays flawlessly, and still lose the game.
What did we miss?
The human factor. We miss the human factor each and every time.
The true strength in any organization is its people.
People aren’t merely numbers or cogs in the wheels of industry, though we’ve been treated as such.
We are complex, emotional beings. Energy in motion. Capable of extraordinary feats.
And all too often driven by fears that hold us in bondage and thwart our desire and ability to change.
As it turns out, we’re often not as agile or adaptive as we would like to be. And that’s okay…
As long as we accept the facts and stop lying to ourselves.
The time has come for a new approach.
This new approach requires a different mindset and vastly different measures of success.
Recognizing the limitations of conventional planning, a paradigm shift is imperative.
Enter intentional design, a human-centric approach that redefines success metrics. Rather than fixating on numbers, it prioritizes the human experience—keeping stakeholders informed, involved, interested, and inspired.
Key Performance Indicators become…
- Keep People Informed
- Keep People Involved
- Keep People Interested
- Keep People Inspired
Let’s turn strategic planning inside out and focus on our people.
| Instead of… | Try this… |
| What are the numbers? | Who is in the room? |
| Where are we in relation to the targets? | Who has the KSAOs to drive this objective? |
| What needs to change? | Who do we need to become? |
Can you feel the shift?
…the ice melting
…the ability to breathe a little deeper
Agility and adaptation are rooted in awareness.
Awareness naturally flows from enlightened and empowered people. By flipping the script on strategic planning, intentional design breathes life into organizational strategy.
In intentional design, the true source of competitive advantage lies not in products or services, but in the people behind them. Their diverse skills, experiences, and perspectives form the bedrock of innovation and resilience. By placing people at the forefront of planning efforts, organizations harness the transformative power of intentional design.
The sophisticated cousin.
When plans are created by the people, for the people, with people at the center driving them forward, they have the ability to transform.
This is Intentional Design.
People-centered planning with the intent to inform, involve, and inspire.
