Strategy days are great. People talk, ideas come out, the room gets excited.
Then Monday arrives, and by Friday most of it is gone.
Excitement isn't a system
Motivation and inspiration are a great start to a strategy session. They're an amazing feeling on New Year's too. But if nothing carries them through, they fade, without question, and you're left unable to move forward. The same thing happens to new year goals by February.
Busy is not progress
Leaders and teams finish weeks of running from meeting to meeting with no idea whether anything moved. Usually for two reasons.
They aren't sure what they want. Or they're sure what they want this week, but not what it means for the bigger picture.
And in all the busyness, they never stop to check whether the work is going anywhere.
Strategy has to become a system
A strategy isn't just the moment in the room. It needs to connect: what do we want, what does that look like in three years, what must we achieve this year, this quarter and this week.
Then strategy becomes a system, and a system is one move leading to the next. All you focus on is your move for the week. More on the full chain in how to stop firefighting.
Test every goal with SMARTeR
You probably know SMART goals. Harvest uses SMARTeR.
- Specific. Spell out every detail of what success looks like. The more specific, the better your chance of getting there.
- Meaningful. This is the kicker. How sure am I that this week's move gets me closer to the 90-day goal? If I hit the 90-day goal, how sure am I that I'm closer to the 12-month goal? And will that year bring me closer to where I see the business in three years?
- Aspirational. Exciting enough that people feel drawn towards it.
- Realistic. Still possible. Aspirational and realistic are a balance. Sometimes you can push further, sometimes you need to pull the brakes. Knowing when is a muscle you build.
- Time-bound. Everything has a deadline. Nothing runs endlessly. The week leads to the quarter, the quarter to the year, the year to the three-year picture.
- Reviewed. Check regularly. Is this still the right goal for the year? For this quarter? Maybe an opportunity has come up. You may have set the goal in a particular mood. Review, reassess and adjust if you need to.
After your next strategy day
- 1
Before you leave the room, agree the 12-month goal and how it connects to the three-year picture.
- 2
Set the first 90-day goal.
- 3
Make sure everyone leaves knowing their move for the first week.
- 4
Put a review date in the calendar.
