Mary Schmidt Marketing Troubleshooter

I’ve been tagged a third time to post five things you don’t know about me - this time by Francois at Emergence Marketing. Funny how these memes keep comin’ round, but that’s part of why I blog. Such things lead me to new blogs and therefore new contacts, perspectives and knowledge. (My original “things” list is here.)

All this is my segue to a different type of “5 things” meme, courtesy of Mike Wagner of Own Your Brand. He’s posted “Thin Slice Your Brand.” As Mike describes it: “Thin-slicing” refers to the ability of our unconscious to find patterns in situations and behavior based on very narrow slices of experience. The goal of this meme is to get all of us to slow down this process to actually see some of the patterns we recognize long before we consciously know we see them.

So, here are my 5 Thin-Slicing Observations re Strategic Planning:

1. Does the facilitator use words such as “dialoging” and “consensus?” (a lot) There’s nothing wrong with either in practice . But, way too many facilitators can sing the words while being totally clueless about how to write the music.

2. Do the participants look happy to be here? Or, are they more focused on the quality and quantity of the bagels in the back of the room?

3. Is somebody besides the facilitator writing? A good session should spark creativity and ideas in all participants and they should be scribbling away.

4. Is the CEO/top manager participating? Or, is he/she off in a different strategic “top level” (and “top secret”) retreat with “senior managment” and/or the board?

5. Are people anxious to speak up? Are they having difficulty letting others complete their sentence? Or, is everyone meekly and quietly following the “operating rules” with the result being a lot of dead air. You can practically see the thought balloons, “Let’s just get this over with and hit the bar.” That’s most definitely not the right kind of consensus.

Something like over 90% of strategic plans fail - most due to lack of implementation. And, it’s very difficult to get people to implement something they don’t care about, regardless of much you pay the planning consultant or spend on expensive retreats. A great plan could be written on the back of a cocktail napkin by a group of happy, excited front-line employees. Key is quality, not quantity. (Full disclosure: I “do” strategic planning with clients, but - please - shoot me if you ever hear of me mouthing platitudes or passing out yet more colored dots for flip charts…I’d rather be working on that napkin, preferably with an adult beverage nearby.)

So, what are your “5 Thin Slices?” And, tag you’re it:

1. Francois - back at you. Marketing plans?
2. Bruce Fryer. What about product development?
3. Maria Palma. Management of Customer Service?
4. Holly Buchanan. Marketing to Women On-line? (Funny, that’s also her blog title…)
5. Dawn Rivers Baker. Want to take a crack on small/micro biz public policy activism (or lack thereof)?

Tags: blogging, strategic planning, business development