This post is part one in a series covering the Straightforward Consulting approach to strategic planning and project management.

As an entrepreneurial business leader, you probably have a strategic plan.  Somewhere.  Collecting dust.  And that’s right where it needs to be.  Because, let’s face it.  If it were serving you, you’d be using it.

So why isn’t it serving you?  Why go through the motions of creating a plan…that sucks?

I’ve watched many entrepreneurial leaders take themselves out of the game because they didn’t have a good strategic plan supporting them.  I’ve seen the pattern so many times, I’ve called it “The Amoeba Effect.”

The Amoeba Effet

In my experience, companies often start out like an amoeba. Small. Squishy. Able to flex and bend into nearly any shape needed.  Over time, the company grows. Growth is a good thing. Growth is why the company was birthed.

Amoebas, on the other hand, can only grow so much. They’re single-celled organisms. Have you ever seen an amoeba with the naked eye? Of course not. If an amoeba ever got big enough to see with the naked eye…it would collapse in on itself.  Amoebas have no internal structure to support the weight of growth.

Many small companies believe that one of their key competitive advantages is their flexibility. And they’re not wrong. Agility, adaptability, flexibility – they’re all very important in today’s business environment. The problem is that some of those companies incorrectly believe that it’s their lack of internal structure that is the key to flexibility.

A 50 pound amoeba will implode in on itself. But a 50 pound child can perform all sorts of wild and crazy stunts. Why? What’s the difference? A child has a rigid, inflexible internal bone structure that bears the weight of growth! 

What’s the difference between a 50 pound amoeba and a 50 pound child? Bones. Rigid, inflexible, hard bones. And it’s that bone structure – rigidity appropriately applied within the body of the child – that enables the full expression of all that child is meant to be. The same is true for your company…and your life.

Appropriately applying rigidity

So how do you appropriately apply rigidity?  How do you create a bone structure that grows with the organization?  One that doesn’t get out of whack and stifle growth rather than enable it?  Because let’s face it, if your organization is destined to be an eagle, you won’t make it with the bone structure of an elephant.

A good strategic plan helps you appropriately apply rigidity in your organization so that you can grow without imploding under the weight of expansion.

5 elements of a good strategic plan

A good strategic plan is

1. Current – it’s not outdated 10 minutes after it’s published
2. Relevant – it directly addresses your biggest, most important challenges
3. Focused – focused on the mission, not the support structures
4. All-Encompassing – it deals with the whole organization, the journey you’re on, and the people you’ll encounter along the way
5. Visible – it’s always in front of you, enticing you to move forward. It’s not lost of a shelf somewhere ensnaring wayward dust particles.

In part two of this series, I’ll reveal an approach that achieves all of that…and is straightforward, and even fun!