That master plan is known as “strategy”.
For many, strategy equals boardroom and Fortune 500 companies. This is what I envisioned at the onset of my engineering career, however, as I gained experience and worldview I discovered that a strategy is something we can all benefit from having.
What Strategy Brings You
So what does strategy bring you? If developed properly, it provides:
Clarity of Purpose. Strategy brings you a solid understanding of why you do what you do. This is vital for any organization and individual, because without clarity of purpose, countless resources will be expended following paths that yield no return. While I’m all for exploration and developing broad experience, when it comes to career or business (basically the same thing!) not so much. We only have 168 hours in a week. Investing it without a purpose seems dangerous.
Clarity questions to ask:
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What is my/our purpose (mission)?
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Why do I/we do what I/we do?
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What does my/our future success look like?
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For what do I/we want to be remembered?
Alignment of Action. We had a saying in the Air Force that was applied to highly energetic individuals who seemed clueless about what they were doing: all thrust and no vector. You can be the most energetic, entrepreneurial, hard-working engineer in your company but without alignment of your actions, all that energy may be wasted.
A strategy gives you a vector that you can align your power on.
Alignment questions to ask:
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Is what I/we am/are doing right now contributing to my/our mission?
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What do I/we need to do to make my/our vision a reality?
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Are there actions I/we need to abandon to achieve my/our mission?
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Who will be responsible and accountable for achieving each measurable goal?
"Strategy brings you a solid understanding of why you do what you do."
A Solid Foundation. Without a solid foundation on which to construct, a building in a seismic zone may topple the first time a minor tremor is felt. So too in your career or work. If you lack a solid foundation (strategy) on which to construct your building (goals), the first time you experience a shake up (risk, unforeseen budget cut, etc.) your building (goals) may become derailed.
No plan survives first contact with reality intact and neither will your goals. However, with a strategy in place you have a solid foundation on which to build goals that can withstand the hurdles you’ll come up against. Rarely are important, challenging goals achieved without some friction or headwind.
Foundation questions to ask:
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List the areas where you/your team should be focused. Briefly state your reasons and how each one aligns to the mission.
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Are my/our measurable goals supporting my/our mission?
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Do I/we have the skills/resources needed to make my/our vision a reality?
"What's the use of running if you are not on the right road." - German proverb
Visibility of Both Risk and Opportunity. Wrapped up in every action we take are risks and opportunities. When accomplished properly, a strategy helps us to see risk and opportunity. This in turn allows us to make conscious decisions about how to mitigate the risks or pursue the opportunities. It also can prime us to respond to unforeseen risks and opportunities because we have a solid foundation and a path we are committed to. When a risk arises, we are better positioned to mitigate it; when an opportunity arises, better able to assess its ability to help us achieve our mission.
Visibility questions to ask:
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What are possible risks to achieving my/our mission?
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What are opportunities that will help me/us achieve our mission?
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How will I/we respond if _________ happens?
“The essence of strategy is choosing what not to do. ” - Michael E. Porter
Reference:
Drucker, Peter F., and James C. Collins. The Five Most Important Questions You Will Ever Ask about Your Organization. New York: Leader to Leader Institute, 2008. Print.
Sinek, Simon. Start with Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action. New York: Portfolio, 2009. Print
Christian Knutson, P.E., PMP is a leadership coach and strategy consultant who works with engineers and A/E/C organizations to incorporate leadership into everything they do in order to generate excellence. His works are found here, as well as on The Engineering Career Coach blog, The Engineering Career Coach and Civil Engineering podcasts, and General Leadership, providing expert insight informed by over 21 years of experience on the topics of leadership, management, strategy, and productivity.