Strategic Planning, Plainly Speaking

Mercer Management Consulting recently released a white paper entitled "Strategic Planning Redux" that recommends that instead of relegating strategic planning to a sterile annual exercise, leaders tie it tightly to funding and execution.

The 12-page PDF suggests that strategists avoid blue-sky planning and spreadsheet jockeying and instead concentrate on how the business is actually run. Mercer's talking points:

• Start with the customer.
• Connect strategy with capital allocation and execution.
• Embrace debate.
• Keep the process evergreen.

Drawing on a Ford Motor Co. case study, the white paper also address which quant data needs to be taken into account -- and how.