By contrast, most businesses I work with have a strategic process that starts with a workshop, or some sort of off site involving senior management, sometimes a few more junior and high potential managers, and perhaps an after dinner speaker to liven things up.
Generally the outcome is pretty bland, little more than an articulation of what the CEO or board thought they wanted when walking in on day 1.
Contrast that to my sister.
She does not do her gardening by digging.
She is constantly absorbing ideas and lessons from those around her who are also gardeners, what worked, what did not, and why. She absorbs information from wherever it comes, and then sets up trials to see small scale outcomes before making any commitment to turn over a chunk of her extensive gardens to something different. When all that comes together, she has something different and surprising, she will take the leap and expand the planting, continuing to learn as she goes.
She has a good idea of the outcomes before she commits the time, energy and cost that it takes to commit a chunk of her garden to this new thing, because it has worked in a real world test.
Not so the strategic processes of most.
There is little energy spent thinking about the strategic, competitive and regulatory environment in which they must succeed, little time and effort spend learning from others, and little appetite for small scale trials that might give the game away to competitors.
My sister succeeds on micro scale before investing in the macro, and it is a continuous process, not one that takes place at a specific window of time in spring, but rolls continuously through the year.
Perhaps gardening is a better metaphor for strategic development than it would appear at first glance.
As an aside, the current drought in the country town where she lives has delivered some nasty and unexpected surprises. All are being met with a mindset that will see the important parts of her garden survive and thrive again as rain reappears, as it will. She will have learnt much from the experience.
The key here is listening – actively, to your customers, your suppliers and your staff. The executive retreat can work, but only if it is a collaborative process and not just a way of preaching to a captured audience. Most of us are born with two ears and one mouth and it is a good idea to use them in roughly the same proportion.
I like the garden analogy – gardens are very “vocal” (really visual), effective communicators of failed processes, or lack of attention to detail.
Bruce, You are absolutely right.
The clue is in the 2 ears, 1 mouth metric.
I have used the garden analogy a bit, it both works because it communicates, and it is somehow personal, as everyone knows a gardener.