Who is Bill Gaw?
And why should we listen to him?
Manufacturing Management Training
Strategic Planning
PART I.
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This is the story of a project to develop a "strategic" or long-range MIS plan for a manufacturing company. Almost every company, group or department performs long-range planning at one time .or another. Planning exercises that challenge a group's purpose, mission and objectives are essential elements of implementing meaningful changes in business. While strategic planning projects are not new or unusual , such projects are notorious for producing slick presentations and thick documents that are never implemented. What was unusual about this project was that it succeeded beyond the expectations of those of us who led the effort, as well as our most important "customers": top management and the employees of the department. Although the project focused on an MIS department plan, the techniques that made it successful are applicable to any group planning process. Since successful planning projects are relatively rare, the paper will focus on why this one succeeded. The project used a blend of specific change management and project management techniques. The learnings from this project illustrate several principles of effective change management, which is the theme of this conference.First we will examine why most long-range planning projects fail. Pitfalls of Traditional Planning In a past career as a management consultant, I had developed some long range MIS plans for clients. One large engagement had cost the client significant fees for a plan that they never used. So I had seen some of the "pitfalls of traditional planning" first-hand. A recent article by Henry Mintzberg1 identified the most common "fallacies" of traditional planning projects: Fallacy of Prediction Traditional plans start by predicting the future, and then develop a detailed action plan in response. But who can predict the future, and for how long? The days of predictable competitive behavior, even between firms within an established industry are long past. Today, developing a range of broad potential scenarios makes more sense. Exploring alternative responses to different scenarios promotes strategic thinking, not mechanical reaction to a narrow, hypothetical future. World Class Manufacturing Menu lean
six sigma success six
sigma presentations success Fallacy of Detachment A common mistake is delegating strategic planning to a group of "specialists." This fallacy resembles Frederick Taylor's early twentieth-century use of work-study methods to separate those who think (planners) from those who do (line management). It assumes that 1) a small group of people 2) other than line managers, should develop plans that the line will then be accountable for implementing. This method of planning is common in business today. If the plan is developed by planners, no one except the planners will own it. Those who do not own a plan will feel little commitment to it; it is not theirs. If compelled by an authority demand to implement the plan anyhow, the group at large may comply with the demand, but only reluctantly. Also, senior management may feel little ownership, for the same reason. While traditional low-involvement methods often work for modest changes, the risk of this approach increases dramatically where wide-scale, significant change is required. Such change requires the active involvement of the people who will be charged with carrying out the plan—from the beginning. To be Continued STAY CONNECTED To stay current on manufacturing competitive knowledge, please subscribe to our weekly bulletin, "Manufacturing. Basics and Best Practices (MBBP)." Simply fill in the below form and click on the " subscribe button." We'll also send you our Special Report, "6-Change Initiatives for Personal and Company Success." All at no cost of course. Your personal information will never be disclosed to any third party. privacy policy Here's what one of our subscribers said about the MBBP Bulletin: "Great articles. Thanks for the insights. I often share portions of your articles with my staff and they too enjoy them and fine aspects where they can integrate points into their individual areas of responsibilities. Thanks again." Kerry B. Stephenson. President. KALCO Lighting, LLC Manufacturing
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