Oops, We Forgot Our Strategic Plan!
At the most recent incarnation of my dreaded advisory group, I shared our reaccreditation self-study, mostly because (as I mentioned earlier) I was sure no one on the reaccreditation committee would actually read it, and I wanted to make someone read it. In the self-study, I critique our past strategic plan, noting that it wasn’t particularly strategic. Imagine my horror when my dreaded advisers said, “Hey, you’ve got the wrong strategic plan!” Apparently, we had a later plan which none of my staff thought to mention to me. I’m not kidding. I share the self-study with my staff, we discuss in our various meetings, and no one ever says that much of my focus is completely misplaced. So that’s how good the later strategic plan: NO ONE EVEN REMEMBERED IT EXISTED (except, of course, for the dreaded advisory group members). Oops! Score: Dreaded Advisory Group +1
Kyle said:
Jul 29, 08 at 11:59 amYou’re staff is out to get you. They’re tired of you changing everything. ‘-)
Everyone here knows about our strategic plan. It’s called the wish list. Lots of things went into the plan, the language is very pretty, and it even has costs associated with it. Then every year during the budget process the have to cut 95% of the strategic initiatives just to get by. We’re apparently 5 years into the plan and still working to fully fund things from year one. And this year we’re “updating” the plan to include some more new initiatives (including IT). So in 10 years or so we’ll have the funding for our forward looking vision from last century…
essprit said:
Jul 29, 08 at 6:12 pmWell, at least they didn’t read your critique and say “yeah, well, that’s just, like, your opinion, man.”
admin said:
Jul 30, 08 at 8:31 amKyle, that is so snafu it’s ridiculous, but, yeah, that’s like my opinion, dig? 🙂
essprit said:
Jul 31, 08 at 3:14 amAs a more serious follow up with this, I’m curious how you’re planning to handle this within your staff. They forgot about the real strategic plan? Seriously?
rufusb said:
Jul 31, 08 at 5:43 amWhat’s a strategic plan?
admin said:
Jul 31, 08 at 3:03 pmYes, seriously essprit. Here’s how I handled it: at my directors’ meeting I noted my embarrassment over what happened at the advisory meeting. I also noted that I’d asked for comments from the directors a while back and only one director gave any substantive feedback (and he’s an interim) and that no one noticed I was referring to the wrong plan. And then I shut up and a very awkward silence ensued. After a minute or so, I moved on to the next agenda item. I’ll mention it again in my 1-1 meetings, but more in the context of “are we on the same page wrt our goals, our plans, etc?”