Strategic Planning During Uncertain Times

Times are indeed uncertain. A particular business might exist today and disappear tomorrow. A particular customer might exist today and be gone tomorrow. A significant cost item may be so low today and become so high tomorrow. A major raw material component may be in plentiful supply today and suddenly become scarce tomorrow. Business or organizations are in for uncertain times.

The strategic planner must bear in mind to expect, and to expect more of the unexpected. These may be the only keys left to unlock the door of survival way well into the future. To expect the unexpected is both serious business and trivial business. By serious business is meant that business or organizations should be on the guard for the unexpected. Unexpected trends, unexpected movements in the market, unexpected shift in the customer base, the list can go on.

The lookout for the unexpected should be done with the primary motivation of analyzing whether such and such will affect business now or will alter business in the future. The statement that to expect the unexpected is trivial business simply means that even if you are not on the lookout, you will notice something; you will notice a shift from the ordinary.

The diet shift is an excellent paradigm. Food is something that people enjoy; they want to eat in fancy restaurants, eat gourmet food and taste all kinds of stuff. But the sudden incidence of various kinds of illness that are food related, forced physicians to prescribe some sort of diet.

Presently there are so many dieting theories as there are prescriptions. There is a diet with no carbohydrates, a diet with carbohydrates, a diet with no fat, a diet with a lot of fat; they all seem contradictory. The next thing that happened was the demand for the organic. People wanted something organic, something natural and this is unexpected.

Certain industries are directly affected by such a paradigm. If this can be classified as a driving force, then a host of industries become affected, from farms to restaurants to clothing stores. The strategic planner must look for and expect the unexpected.

Disregard the Obvious

The business world is not only all auditory; it is also a visual world. We see things all around us, as it is being shaped and affected by the business environment. A word of warning though, for the strategic planner, what may be clearly seen with the eye may not be the real thing or the real score. Just because most of the people are wearing blue jeans does not mean that you can make a provision in the strategic plan to go into the apparel industry. Just because people are driving diesel-powered vehicles does not mean that vehicle manufacturers have to change their engines to diesel from gas or petrol.

The strategic planner has to disregard what is obvious and start to ask why? Why? In as many times as may be practical. The answer is not in the obvious, the answer is not in what is seen directly by the naked eye but the answer is there, hidden from view.

One has to view things from different angles and perspectives in order to see the real thing. Like viewing artwork, the strategic planner must be able to see the different forms, the different figures, the clear outlines and the abstract impressions.

A twist in the form may reveal a future strategic plan of the competitor; a different figure for an otherwise ordinary object may reveal innovation on the part of competition. The obvious may not the real picture. The strategic planner needs an uncanny eye to be able to disregard the obvious and find the real answers.