Great business strategy is achieved by combining thought, data, discussion, experience and insight.TM
Figure 1
The strategic plan defines what an organization is all about (mission and vision), whom it will serve (customers and other stakeholders), what needs it will fulfill (products and services), how well it will perform (objectives and goals), and under what terms it will operate (values and beliefs). Strategic planning establishes the external boundaries of the enterprise with respect to the environment in which it operates. Strategic planning also offers a systematic process to ask and answer the most critical questions confronting management teams, especially large irrevocable resource commitment questions.
2ic Strategy Group (2ic) applies a rational model based approach to the initial review, editing or drafting of a strategic plan in order to achieve more structure and coherence in plan content. An example is provided by our Strategic Viability ChecklistTM illustrated in Figure 1. The checklists' robust set of strategic questions requires the proponents of a strategy or new business proposal to build a business case and defend it.