Why Futures Fail
"All skill is in vain when an Angel pisses in the flintlock of your musket."
I am appalled by the amount of money that is wasted each year on so-called, “Strategic Planning” only to have the entire process sabotaged by a few internal lazy, unimaginative, fearful, and selfish people.
During the past few decades, I have seen the process undermined by such people more times than I have seen it enthusiastically embraced by those who know they can create the future.
There are a few themes to the tactics that sabotage the process, among which are:
“Management” ego, complacency, “Things are fine. Just fine …” Nevermind the building is on fire, the organization is underfunded, customers are screaming and employees are fleeing out the back door, “Things are fine. Just fine …”
“Strategic planning? That’s too hard. Anyway … that’s like a ‘wish list’ isn’t it?”
Addiction to tasks … continuing to get one’s emotional payoff from being on the gerbil wheel of tasks. (Pro Tip: One of the greatest causes of workplace stress is believing that your work is very, very important … )
Resistance to critical thinking, strategic thinking … or thinking at all. It sounds like this: “But, but, but … what things are we going to DO?!!!”
People with fiduciary accountability overlook or make excuses for malfeasance and incompetence for fear of “hurting someone’s feelings” … meanwhile the entire organization suffers.
Somewhere there is a decision-maker who believes or whom others have been persuaded to believe they are “indispensable” and they see the effort as a personal threat.
Lack of understanding, acceptance, and training in what true Strategic Planning is … and is not.
Faulty logic - attempting to extrapolate the future from the past. Pro Tip: When you use past data to extrapolate the future the future will look pretty much like the past.
Lack of commitment or political will to stay focused - and follow through - while creating distractions. (Growing up in the country I learned that the most direct way to stop an argument between two family members at supper was to throw a dead mouse on the table …)
Oh, and there’s always the toxin of choice: Gaslighting.
Failure to cascade a systematic, integrated structure can lead to unrecoverable Mission drift.
Resistance to change. You’ve no doubt heard this before: “That’s not the way we’ve always done it …” – or, equally destructive, “we can’t do that because we’ve never done it … “
Failure to properly cascade accountabilities and authorities, with people not staying “in their lane.” (FACT: The Governing Body decides where “There” is .. the Destination (it is an overarching, standing decision – a policy); Employees propose “How to get there …” … the Directions – those are action plans and procedures).
One or more individuals who do not want change – e.g., “In love with the disease that’s killing the organization …” set out to undermine the process, badmouth the people involved and/or tell anyone who’ll listen that the process won’t work.
Trying to solve problems with the same people, policies, and procedures that caused them (Cultural Momentum).
A point of order: A Strategic Plan is one physical representation of a comprehensive, inclusive, integrated process within an organizational culture. The process solicits and captures diverse ideas and expectations. It establishes common commitments to outcomes and success indicators for what the customer wants us to do for them and in which they are willing to invest.
It is not "more work" for true leaders. It is THE work of true leaders.
Your Call. Lead like you mean it.
Better yet, Adult like you mean it. -s
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