Strategic Focusing - The New Approach to Strategic Planning

Kimberly Douglas • August 7, 2019

"Vision without execution is...hallucination." Thomas Edison

With a company named FireFly Facilitation and a book called The Firefly Effect, as you might imagine, I am very fond of fireflies.

And, believe it or not, I think there is a lot we can learn from the simple firefly .

Did you know that one of the reasons the population of fireflies appears to be diminishing is because of ambient light or “light pollution” ? There are too many distractions . All these other bright lights keep fireflies from performing at their best.

How similar and true for the people on our own teams, if we don’t have a common vision of success to focus our time, attention, and resources.

Scarcity of resources—both human and financial—demands that we focus our efforts. The value of strategic planning is not only deciding what you will do, but also deciding what you will not do. When done well, strategic focusing can be one of the most exciting and effective team development tools available to a leader.

There is a well-known saying: “If you don’t know where you’re going, any road will take you there.”

I have found that the most effective teams are exceptionally clear on two things—where they are going and how they must work together to get there.

In taking hundreds of teams through the strategic focusing process , I have found this metaphor (represented by the drawing above) really resonates with people:

  • The road we are on is our mission . If this organization ceased to exist, what would the world lose?
  • The mountain in the distance is our vision for success . Three years into the future, how will we know if we have been successful in living up to our mission?
  • Mile markers are the key milestones . How will we measure our progress against the vision and course-correct if needed?
  • The guard rails are our guiding principles . How will we commit to work with each other to reach that mountain?

Next post...the top 5 ways my approach to strategic planning has changed over the last 10 years.

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