Loichinger Advantage

Last month I shared the thoughts of colleagues and friends as we shared conversation on the state of work, strategy and the state of our field - organizational development.  A friend of mine posted his reaction, which was the company he was working for was ultimately focused on survival.  This sounds similar to many of the organizations I’ve talked with in the past year.

Take-a-ways:

The chaos we find ourselves in is not your fault, and you have little control to change the current situation.

How you and your business come out of the recession has everything to do with your perspective and response.

I had the pleasure of joining my colleagues - consultants, organization development & HR leaders - on a dialogue of the “new normal” in today’s organizations.  It was fascinating!  

Not only do I think it’s healthy for people to actually discuss topics like this, but to check the reality of where organizations really are.  Some aspects are overblown, others are right on the mark, and still others are much further along than I would have expected.

The focus of our inquiry and observation was around the question:  What organizational factors are driving organizational change, given the work we have engaged in over the last several years?

Last night’s evening news reported a 1 trillion dollar bail-out of Greece by the economic union.  I applaud their presence, response and the expanded scope of their decision.  So many things done well - so much uncertainty remaining in our world.

If there was ever any doubt that we are a global, integrated financial system, the large drop in the DOW last week eliminated that.  The issue that presides in my mind right now is how organization and business leaders from the area will respond.  Will they continue down the track of economic rebound and renewal, or, will they again recoil back into the emotional shells, full of fear.

I’ve shared the planning practices of the president/CEO of QWANtify, a leading IT consulting firm, followed by my shared experiences and planning perspectives.  Today’s column will bring the strategic planning series to a close by establishing a roadmap for those of you who want to advance the focus and insights gained through your strategic planning journey.

To leverage benefits from the strategic planning process, understand what pieces you’ve already implemented, where you are in your journey, and what will be critical to advance in the coming year.  If you have started in the middle without laying the proper foundation, you may need to back-up before moving ahead.

Welcome to the second column on our strategic planning strategic planning series.  You have the right team assembled, with the appropriate executives invited.  You are ready to launch the strategic planning process.  Not so fast.  So much has been written about the topic it becomes difficult to remember the myths from realities.  Let us help you clarify myth from reality, and shatter the myths that have been perpetuated for far too long.

We have gotten along fine without a strategic plan &can’t afford to take our eye off the ball.