Mindsets to help you plan in uncertainty
Strategy for our times Part 2
Image description: A group of globe thistle in Manito Park, Spokane, photo by Laura Pierce.
In order to plan strategically in a volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous (VUCA) environment, the following shifts are helpful:
Focus on “who we are” as a group/organization rather than “where we are going”—Spend time ensuring clarity and agreement regarding your organization’s identity (mission, vision and values). Rather than thinking of a strategic plan as a roadmap to be followed, identify your North Star and move toward it even as the terrain in front of you may change.
Place a greater emphasis on your organization’s context—What is happening in your organization’s environment that may impact you? Network building, field engagement, reading and learning in your field of service can help you build a more complete picture of opportunities and constraints that you need to plan for. Most nonprofits are “open systems” and interdependent with many other actors. While this can be a vulnerability, it is also a superpower.
Build trust. Organizations are more able to move nimbly when the board and staff are on the same page and trust each other. Trust can be built in many ways, but one opportunity during the strategic planning process is to have heartfelt conversations about shared values and how to act on those shared values. Find and discuss areas of disagreement now so they don’t rear up during a time when rapid action is demanded.
Trust-building is an activity that is valuable at all levels of life—family/personal, organizational, and community/field of service. It is fractal in nature, one of the principles of Emergent Strategy laid out by adrienne maree brown in the book of the same name. How can you build trust at the interpersonal, organizational and field/community levels?
Expect to manage change on an ongoing basis. It is unlikely that things will suddenly become predictable for nonprofit leaders. Complexity bordering on chaos is likely to continue to be the order of the day. More than ever, we are forced to “build the plane as we fly it.” Adaptive Leadership (one of several frameworks that help us understand how to lead in complex situations) can help us separate technical and adaptive challenges and approach them differently.
Next time: fostering creativity and risk-taking