Garbage In, Garbage Out

Pithy. I love it.

“Garbage in, garbage out”: A sound concept from the world of computer science, expressing the harsh reality that flawed, or nonsense (garbage) input data produces nonsense (garbage) output.

Whether you are a board director, an Executive Director or on the management team of a not-for-profit, this post is for you. It’s about strategic planning. And if reading those words makes you roll your eyes or groan in frustration, believe me - I understand. 

Executive Directors and managers are overburdened, full stop. Finding the time to step back and look at the big picture all too often feels like a luxury they can’t afford. On top of that, they’ve probably experienced retreats that devolved into nitpicking over a vision statement or resulted in completely unrealistic goals that aren’t even that relevant to their daily reality. If they just want to get through strategic planning as fast as possible so they can get back to the million things on their plates, I can’t blame them.

As for board directors - well, more often than not, they don’t have first-hand knowledge of the complexities of program and service delivery, or of not-for-profit management. They are volunteers doing their best to give back, while also juggling their personal/family lives and jobs. They also have their own checklist of monthly, quarterly and annual tasks that the board just has to get done. And yet, despite all of these realities, it is ultimately the board’s job to develop and approve organizational strategy. 

Is it any wonder that strategic plans often miss the mark or end up being side-lined?

There are a lot of reasons why traditional strategic planning just doesn’t cut it for most organizations. Here’s one of them: a strategic plan is only as strong as the information and “data” (I use this term loosely) that informs the decision-making process. It sounds harsh, but if the information and data that goes into a decision-making process is garbage … well, how can the strategic plan itself be anything but? 

This is why I believe a solid analysis of an organization’s strategic context should underpin every planning process. And decision-makers must have a sound appreciation of this strategic context well before a retreat. 

A Caveat: Perfect is the Enemy of the Good

As much as I wholeheartedly believe in the concept of “garbage in, garbage out,” it’s also important to remember this: perfect is the enemy of the good. 

In an ideal world, organizations are monitoring and analyzing their strategic context on a regular basis, and evolving their strategies organically as things change. In the real world, many (most, really) not-for-profits don’t have the capacity for this, largely because of systemic funding challenges. And even when they do have a budget for strategic planning, they still have to make tough choices about the length and depth of the process. 

If that’s your organization’s reality, then you’re probably trying to figure out how to allocate your strategic planning activities and dollars in the way that makes the most sense. As you do this, it is so incredibly important to be alive to what you know - and what you don’t know - about your strategic context. And then, you have to decide how much of your strategic planning process to dedicate to gathering the information and data you need so that your organization can make the best decisions possible.

Some Food For Thought

When is the last time you talked - really talked - to your stakeholders?

Start by making a list of your stakeholders - all of them. Maybe it looks something like this:

• Program participants

• Employees 

• Volunteers 

• Program delivery partner

• Government funder A 

• Government funder B 

• Donors 

Make that list as complete as you can. Get help from your team to create it, to make sure you don’t inadvertently overlook anyone. 

Then, decide who you need to engage as part of the current planning process. It might not be necessary or possible to engage every single stakeholder. To narrow things down, ask: 

• When did we last seek this stakeholder’s feedback? What did they have to say? 

• If it has been a while since we connected with them, how come? 

• What could/should we find out/learn from them?

• If we don’t reach out to them, how might this compromise our ability to make the best possible decisions? 

Do you know what’s happening externally? 

If ever there was a time to conduct an environmental scan or a PESTLE analysis, this is it. 

Many of us have had our heads down since early 2020, simply trying to navigate the impact of COVID on our programs, employees and volunteers, as well as our bottom line. We’ve largely been focused inward because we had to be, just to keep the lights on, so to speak. 

But now, it’s time to come up for air and take a really good look at what’s happening in the external environment. For example: 

• Are there longer-term changes in community needs as a result of the pandemic? If so, what are the implications for our mission? 

• Have new programs or services moved into the same “space” as our organization? How are they or could they impact us? 

• Are there possible new allies/partners to consider? 

• How has the pandemic shifted government, funder or donor priorities?

Is it time for a “mission first” strategic planning process? 

Many organizations have been delivering the same core programs day in and day out for years - often, decades. 

Sometimes, it’s because government funders require organizations to deliver the same cookie-cutter program that has been in place for many decades (I’ve seen this firsthand), and provide very little flexibility to try new things. 

Sometimes, it is because organizations themselves simply don’t have the time, money and capacity to periodically conduct strategic reviews of their missions, and to act on the findings.

And, frankly, sometimes organizations are reluctant to look too closely at the effectiveness of their missions, for fear of what they might find out.

But now more than ever, I think it is dangerous for organizations to take their missions for granted. If your mission is outdated or on the verge of becoming obsolete - an honest conversation and analysis is in order. This is not just strategically important, but it is fundamentally necessary to do right by the people and communities that are depending on you. 

That’s … a lot.

If this is what you’re thinking, I feel you. By no means am I suggesting that you try to do all the above in your next strategic planning process. But it is important to identify and name the most significant gaps in your organization’s appreciation of its broader strategic context. If it’s possible to dedicate resources to filling in some of those gaps before a retreat, fantastic! But if not, I strongly believe you’re still on a path to making better decisions overall when you know what you don’t know. 

Also keep in mind that a strategic plan is really just a snapshot of your organization’s anticipated journey based on what you know during that moment in time. It is not set in stone. You can and should revisit it as you move forward, and adjust as necessary. That’s what being a strategic organization is all about. 

If you're looking for a facilitator to help your team co-create a new values statement, I'm here to help. Just send a request through my website.