Making strategic planning proactive

Major thought leaders in technology and emerging markets formulate a robust yet accessible framework for organizations that face disruption and must strategize proactively. Executives talk about developing innovative new strategies. They go to conferences on change and hire consultants to manage strategic reinvention. In short, they equate great strategy with great performance. Yet, all too often, strategic change occurs in reaction mode. Sales are down and market share is declining. Profitability is worsening. New types of competitors enter the fray and permanent turbulence disrupts business. Only then do we find we can rally the urgency and the focus to drive business in new and better directions. The problem with reactive planning, of course, is that it happens too late. You find yourself playing catch-up. The damage is done and someone else claims the competitive advantage. The challenge is to make strategic planning proactive and preemptive as a matter of course. That type of fast, fluid approach requires a mind shift, to be sure, but it also requires a new set of tools.

In the new book, strategy expert Jeffrey Sampler cuts through the clutter to reveal exactly why the usual tools of strategy are so sorely out of sync with our needs. The upshot for managers is that they need to reorient their approach to absorb the shocks and surprises that strike at a moment's notice. Only then can strategic planning reliably play its part. In essence, this book redefines how organizations approach strategic planning.

More specifically, it addresses a strategic planning process that has been made obsolete by permanent change and turbulence. It does so in three ways: