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12 FEDA News & Views continued on page 18 Why Most Companies Often Miss the Mark When it Comes to Implementation By Doug Fryett dfryett@fryettcg.com Strategic planning and business plan- ning are among two of my most favorite topics to discuss. Additionally, they con- stitute a great deal of my time with my clients. And, yes, there is a significant difference between the two. Strategic planning focuses on the long-term (three to 10 years out); business plan- ning is much more short-term in nature with a focus of three to 12 months. Unfortunately, though, too many orga- nizations confuse the two and end up "thinking" they are putting together a longer-term strategic plan, but in real- ity they are doing nothing more than developing a road map for the next six months or so. Regardless of whether you are trying to put together a long-term strategic plan or a short-term business plan, the key to either plan is its implementation. A few years ago a very prestigious national accounting firm (no, their initials are not A.A.) did a rather extensive study on firms' abilities to put together plans and then effectively implement them. The study was conducted across a very wide variety of industries and encompassed organizations of varying sizes—from the very large to the very small. The net result of their findings: approximately 80 percent of businesses had put together a "reasonably" good plan, but less than 15 percent actually executed them! Instead, they sat on bookshelves collecting dust and were only removed when they needed to be "updated" 12 months later. Note: Plans are only implemented by people. This, in turn, strongly implies that effective plan implementation requires both strong and effective managers as well as strong and effective leadership. Again, there are significant differences between the two, but both are required to effectively design, develop, and execute a plan. Before I get into some of the tenants of good planning, I think it is very worthwhile to briefly review some of the key reasons why plans do not get implemented and/or why companies eventually "fail." Needless to say, there are a lot of reasons, but the ones that continue to pop up are as follows: Poor or no long-term vision for the organization. Everyone has an inherent desire to belong to an organization that has a long-term vision as to why that company or organization is in business. It gives employees a sense of belonging, a sense of long-term direction and decision mak- PREPARING FOR 2015 AND BEYOND ing, and it gives them a "reason" to want to come to work every day. Without a long-term vision, how can you possibly get to a "destination" and expect your employees to follow you? Competing and/or too many priorities. When I visit a company for the first time and I ask to see the various busi- ness priorities they have established and are supposedly working on, I invariably get a multipage document that has a slew of business priorities listed out for the whole world to see. Great intentions are exactly what the vast majority of