By Molly Penn It is human nature to crave control, avoid uncertainty, and envision a tidy future. Even after a two-year rollercoaster of disruption and chaos, many organizational leaders are still looking to their strategic plans and SMART goals to keep them on a clearly crafted course toward a too-specific future. NYU professor of strategic …
The Tension Between Measurability and Transformation in Planning Read More »
By Molly Penn Reflecting on all the work we do with incredible clients, and the many, many conversations we have with prospective clients, I find myself noticing some natural tension points that arise as we try to move away from transactional relationships towards more transformative ones. Here are some examples as food for thought and …
by Molly Penn How do we ensure that planning = intentional and strategic change? Simple. Every good planning process needs to be rooted in a set of powerful strategic questions. Do your change initiatives feel like business as usual to you? If so, you are missing an opportunity to think about planning as an opportunity …
by Molly Penn We’ve been going over all of our “traditional” organizational development practices with a fine tooth comb to build the IDEA lens into everything we do with clients. This article focuses on strategic planning and how to rethink the process of planning so the result is a plan that furthers the organization’s IDEA …
Strategic Planning with an Inclusion, Diversity, Equity & Access Lens Read More »
by Molly Penn Strategic Planning is a term that gets used fairly frequently, but not always to refer to the same work. As an example, lately we’ve gotten requests for strategic plans ranging from budgets of $7,500 to $75,000. This describes a completely different scope of work. Consulting is a time-driven business – we charge …
By Janice Shapiro Last year, in a matter of days, our world changed without warning. Within months of the pandemic we found ourselves faced with a new normal, and we had to figure out how to sustain our organizations when everything shut down, how to protect our employees’ jobs where we could, how to address …
How to do Scenario Planning in an Uncertain Environment Read More »
It’s a provocative question, we admit. Yet this is a time when organizations must be wrestling with this question actively. There are three pillars of organizational health – read on to learn more about them!
Are there just too many nonprofit organizations? Alliances can take many forms. In this post, we’ll detail some of the most common forms of alliances and why organizations might want to use them. The important thing here is to keep your mission delivery at the forefront of your rationale, and to summon the personal humility that brought you to nonprofit work in the first place.
With an atmosphere of triage all around us, how are we supposed to plan farther out than next week? Yet we operate in a world that requires a degree of confidence from us that we know where we are going. Scenario planning is a process that will help you feel prepared for how the future might unfold.
Is it too soon to begin thinking about the “new normal?” Organizations that are not ready to consider how Covid-19 will change our work are risking their future health and sustainability. We are grounding these recommendations in human care and empathy for now, and smart planning for what’s next.
You’re riding in an elevator with someone who asks what you do – you have about 3 minutes to answer them succinctly, powerfully, compellingly so they ask you more. What do you say? The role of a mission statement is to describe what you do in clear terms so the listener immediately “gets it.”
Everyone struggles with how to articulate your strategic plan goals so they compel others to join you in your noble quest. How many organizations do you know that spend months and months and thousands of dollars only to roll out a plan with … meh goals? We’d bet the answer is too many. We’re setting out to change that.
Do you know how to map your strategic position? The word “map” here literally means to try to create some visuals to help you picture where you sit relative to other organizations with similar missions. It is a way to help you understand your unique role.
Imagine coming to work every day full of purpose and conviction. The role of a vision statement is to serve as your true north, the motivation for working in the social sector, the difference you are in business to make. Here are some key questions to ask yourself when framing or refining your vision.
What makes a plan “strategic” is that it takes into consideration what is happening in the world outside your organization and responds to that context. So what does it mean to research your market and how to do that? We break market research into several distinct pieces.
In strategic planning, one of the most important events happens right up front – framing a set of relevant, purposeful, interesting questions that will inform your actions or critical decision-making. Here are a few guidelines for making sure you’re asking the best questions.
What’s a “stakeholder” anyway?
What is a strategic question anyway?
By Molly Penn Strategy should always factor in your organization’s current business model. You need to understand your business model in order to ascertain how bold you can be in your strategy. Do you have assets and liquidity to allocate to new initiatives? Or, is your plan more about regaining financial sustainability? These two situations …
Look Under the Hood – How to Assess your Business Model Read More »
Ever wonder what strategic planning is or how to do it? This post is for you!
Strategic planning can take very different forms – how do you know which is best for your organization?
Is your strategic planning boring or fun and creative? Talk to us about how to create break through strategy!
