Strategic planning is an ongoing process that must be scalable and repeatable. A strategic planning framework provides both structure and flexibility. An overly rigid framework might overlook key elements of your strategic plan. A framework that is too high level might lack the structure to support an actionable and accountable strategic plan. One effective strategic planning framework is the Goal Pyramid. It provides an actionable framework for strategic planning at the individual, department, and company levels.
Let’s dive into understanding how to use the Goal Pyramid for your startup’s strategic planning framework.
Quick takeaways:
The Goal Pyramid consists of four layers:
It’s important to understand how the Goal Pyramid works, as this will help you to create and then implement this strategic planning framework.
The Goal Pyramid begins with setting one main goal for the organization. The goal should be SMART (specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, time-bound). To set a goal, leadership must first define their WHY:
Once you’ve set a goal, you must create the strategies for achieving that goal. Strategies must align with the why to support the goal. When creating strategies, leadership should consider the WHAT, WHO, and WHEN:
After creating your strategies, you must decide how to put those plans into action. This involves developing tactics that provide direction on implementing the strategies. Many people confuse strategies with tactics: a strategy is a broach approach for achieving a goal, while a tactic is the process you follow to implement the strategy. Execution involves answering the HOW:
After determining the tactics for executing on your strategies, you must assign the resources (i.e., people, tools) for implementing the tactics. Goal setting is vital but doing the work to fulfill the goal will move your business forward and help you to realize success. This involves creating and implementing your operational plans, which should:
To follow is an example of a startup’s strategic planning framework using the Goal Pyramid.
The Goal Pyramid is a flexible and actionable strategic planning framework that can help startups to create and fulfill a key goal. Start with one SMART goal, develop strategies to support your goal, create tactics to implement your strategies, and implement the resources to put those tactics to work.
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