Want a strategic plan the whole company can get behind? Give it a theme.
We spend countless hours honing in on our key initiatives, defining the year ahead, mapping out KPIs and assigning RACI charts in an effort to build the perfect strategic plan. Hell, some plans I’ve seen are 20 pages long. They are masterful, and most of your leadership can recite each initiative word for word. But that’s where it stops… people outside of leadership might have one or two things they remember, or they might even be on a committee that meets once a month to address a specific initiative. But, as you go down the chain, most is lost in the day-to-day work that keeps any company in business. This is where your theme comes in.
Themes provide focus. They help you prioritize and allow everyone to be on the same page. Regardless of the details and nuance in the plan itself, the theme provides an easy to understand intention that moves people in a single direction. The theme should be clear, be relatable, and inspire the team to action, so that no matter what comes our way this year, the intention, the new initiatives, the momentum, is all aligned with what you want to achieve.
Think about themed parties… if you are going to a disco party, everyone will generally look the same, you know what kind of music will be played, and before you even enter the room you have a picture of what it’s like inside. While I hate dress-up parties, adding a theme to your annual strategic plan is a critical step—it’s something I have done for the past decade. Here are a few of my favorites, and the key steps that went into each.
Find our Groove
Two years into one of our biggest strategic changes in company history, I could tell everyone was floundering. We had changed up teams, we added new service lines, we had real budgets and were getting larger and larger clients. We needed some time to get things dialed and have our people get comfortable with new styles and personalities. All of our initiatives (this year we called those the Crazy 8) were about smoothing the bumps, teamwork, and leveling out. It was a great year!
Boss Level v2.final.final.v3.pdf
Sometimes when you have a bold and aggressive theme like “boss level,” you don’t make it. As a company, we were not ready for a theme and plan called Boss Level. So we failed. We didn’t beat the boss level, and it stung. I struggled to come up with another theme that would honor the hard work and attempt, that wouldn’t be shameful, but at the same time wouldn’t tuck a loss under the rug. So why not just try again? Hell, thanks to our hard work the years before, we had tons of extra lives in the bank… so Boss Level v2.final.final.v3.pdf was born, and guess what, we crushed the Boss Level the following year.
Our theme this year
We have busted our butts to make KPS3 what it is today. We have earned the right to be called one of the best agencies in Nevada. Now is our time to shine and unleash our full potential. To do that, we need to stay current, focus on the stuff we are great at, and move anything and everything blocking greatness out of the way.
Think: Tailoring our effort to fit both the clients’ goals and our own (and sometimes, that's saying no). Saying yes to a stronger work/life balance across all levels and all departments. Saying yes to deeper and more robust training. Saying yes to leaning further into the uncomfortable and pushing our limits.
All of this means being even more Human. On Purpose. To do this, we must refine some of our practices and thinking that got us to this point. Fear not, this is a good thing—hell, it's a f*ckin’ great thing! It allows our managers and senior leaders to truly become great mentors and guides. It will allow our staff the space to become true leaders in their fields. This year, we…
Let ‘Em Cook 🔥
Do it!
Alright internet, this is for you. Here is are the top 5 reasons you should theme your strategic plan:
- It gives clear direction of where your team should be heading this year
- It gives focus and common ground to the initiatives and KPIs in your plan
- It allows people to add additional items outside of these strategic initiatives that are still in alignment with your theme
- People remember themes
- They make your plan less boring and more inspiring
I encourage everyone to add a theme to their next strategic plan. Something that is inspiring, that is focused, and above all, something that ties all the key initiatives in your plan together. Happy theme’n.