Today’s headline scream change: from political change due to elections, to A.I. technology and agents changing work, to climate disasters changing maps, to demographic trends creating new opportunities, and many other first-order-level changes.
Change is occurring so quickly and with such depth and breadth that an assumption about the uselessness of long-range planning also is gaining traction. “With significant change happening so quickly,” the thinking goes, “multi-year plans become obsolete before we start them.”
But here are 3 reasons why your longer-range planning is far from obsolete – even when incredible changes are happening swiftly:
- Your plan is a decision-making framework, not a document predicting the future. An inclusively-constructed strategic plan clarifies your mission, your vision, and your values for everyone. This clarification becomes increasingly important during periods of significant change. When a sudden enrollment change hits, or a funding change occurs, or a technology disruption emerges, leaders with a plan that provides a sense of shared priorities and values can make decisions quickly yet thoughtfully.
- Your plan aligns scarce resources and provides clarity for supporters. Even in the most easy-going times, nonprofit leaders rarely have all the money, people, and support they need to meet the needs of their mission. Therefore, during especially turbulent times, having a plan becomes even more important. If you want donors, friends, politicos, and others to support you, it is far better to say, “here is our plan and what we are trying to do with your help,” than to say, “we are waiting to see how things shake out.”
- Your planning process builds the adaptive capacity you need. The planning process, itself, is an exercise that helps organizations be nimble in the face of significant change. Inclusivity in planning means that trust is created, that agreements emerge, and that understanding is shared. These are the organizational building blocks that allow you to flex and pivot during times of significant change. Regardless of your plan’s contents, a well-crafted planning process builds organizational capacity to respond to change.
The pace of change may be quickening. The depth and breadth of change may be unprecedented.
But, making the case that long-range planning is less needed because of that change is like arguing that a ship’s captain should do away with their navigational tools during the most intense storms.
When seas are at their roughest is the exact moment when a captain most depends on their GPS and navigational charts.
Planning today will help your organization be better years from now, regardless of how disruptive the changes become – or how stormy the seas get.
