What is the purpose of strategic planning? Why should we care as practice owners and what is the function of this effort? Perhaps we can begin to answer this question by defining strategy. Put simply, strategy is a set of goal-directed actions a company can take to gain and sustain a competitive advantage. A competitive advantage, however, is always relative. It defines the best way for a firm to create value for its internal and external stakeholders. Relativity is important. In the practice, profession, and business of Architecture, there are no absolute advantages. To paraphrase Simon Sinek: “Business is an infinite game in which the competitive landscape is always in flux.”
Now, building from here, let’s better understand what is a strategic plan? Without one, it would seem that a firm could wander around aimlessly without priorities. A firm without a strategic plan is one where the employees are confused about the purpose of their jobs. Strategic planning provides clarity, direction, and focus for the organization. It drives alignment and communicates your “message.”
Clarity is of course very helpful, but it doesn’t quite get at the “why.” It doesn’t quite answer our initial questions. I’ll submit my thesis that the primary purpose of strategic planning is to build a bridge, provide a structure, and define a process connecting a company’s mission and vision. Arguably, we have some more work to do defining mission and vision. In the interest of succinctness, one defines your core purpose or just cause and the other what/how you are achieving it.
