Hundreds of leaders have recently wasted thousands of hours planning strategies for next year. Yes, many of these plans are brilliant, profound even, but that doesn’t matter. The time invested would have been better spent meeting with customers or even doing some holiday shopping.

The problem is not the strategy. It’s the abandonment of these well intentioned plans that’s about to occur in thousands of companies across the globe.

Radical Accountability is much more important than strategy. That’s why every strategic plan must include the following:

1. A detailed plan for implementing the strategy.
2. Contingency plans for when, not if, parts of the plan are overlooked or neglected.
3. An ongoing evaluation method, championed by a key leader, to ascertain how the plan is working, what’s not being worked, and possible adjustments based on periodic milestones.

Failing to plan, contrary to popular belief, is not the worst way to plan to fail. Failing to follow and work the plan is the real culprit for a time-tested way to fail and fail big.

This Week’s Radical Accountability Activating Action: Plan for inevitable strategic plan abandonment. Like the airbags in your car that you hope you’ll never need, protecting the time invested in strategic planning is prudent given the forgetful and fallible nature of human beings.

If you’d like to reach me, email: scott@ScottWintrip.com or call my direct line: (727) 502-9182.