Strategic Planning Kit For Dummies®, 2nd Edition

Foolish Assumptions

As I wrote this book, I made some assumptions about you, my reader:

• You're a decision maker. You hold the position of business owner, manager, executive director, department head, or team/group leader.
• You can influence change in your organization. Whether you have the final say, you have a strong enough position to influence the course of your business.
• You want to see your organization grow and be sustainable! Growth is different for every organization. But the underlying premise is you want your organization to do more and be around longer.
• You can see the edges of your strategy, but you need to fill in the detail. Most organizations know what general direction they're headed in, but they need to turn the generalities into specifics.
• You have a plan, but it's sitting on the shelf gathering dust. Or you have a plan, but it's halfway completed.
• You want to get everyone on the same page. I hear this phrase with almost every client I work with, so I assume it applies to you, too. The need to get your whole company focused and pulling in the same direction is a great motivator to do strategic planning.

Although all these assumptions may not apply to you, am I at least close? I wish I could predict the future of your business, but alas, I haven't been granted that power. A strategic plan helps to take out the uncertainty and allows you to shape the future you want. And I'm here to help you with your steps along the way.