On Sunday we were driving through Chicago on our way home from Thanksgiving in Wisconsin.  It was the second day of driving (we’d started out in northwestern Wisconsin), and we had planned on being home in the early evening so that our three elementary-aged kids could relax a bit before going to bed in preparation for school on Monday.  We’d decided to go through downtown Chicago, followed by a drive on the 80 tollway through Gary, Indiana because there is a cool bridge on that route.

Three kids, a 105 pound dog, and a bunch of luggage were piled high in our SUV.

Somewhere in Chicago, the engine sputtered slightly.  My husband and I looked at each other in surprise, but everything seemed fine.    After a short while, one of the kids announced the impending necessity of a bathroom break, but by that time, we were just entering Gary, Indiana.  In no uncertain terms, we told her to wait about a half an hour because “Gary, Indiana is known as the murder capital of America, so if it’s okay with you, we’d rather not stop there.”  She wholeheartedly agreed and assured us she could wait.

Not three minutes after that exchange, the SUV went over a bump and the engine went dead.  Did I mention that Gary, Indiana is known as the murder capital of America?

We coasted over to the side of the freeway, considering what to do.  My husband tried unsuccessfully to restart the engine.  Cars whizzed by, and there we sat.  It seemed unlikely that we’d get home anytime soon.   The kids asked nervously whether we were in Gary, and we chose not to reply.  They got the message.

Since it was Sunday afternoon, no rental car companies were open, and we were four hours from home.  We had to wait until morning before our SUV could be fixed.  That only left one option, and thankfully, the tow truck driver we called was kind enough to take us to a hotel.  Three kids, a 105 pound dog, two computers, my husband, and I piled into the three-seat tow truck.   Literally.

A resident of Gary, the driver talked about his purebred pit bull, his two boa constrictors, and Broadway Avenue (which he drove us down) being infamous for street gangs and murders.  As I was sitting next to him, I happened to notice that he had a tattoo of brass knuckles on his right hand.  I wondered if he owned some real ones.

Blessedly, we arrived at the hotel safely, but our plans of arriving home that night were dashed.  The kids wouldn’t be able to go to school, we’d have to reschedule our meetings, and we’d have to call our neighbors to ask them to feed the animals for another day.

The point of this story?  Life can throw you a curve ball.  Our plans, as well-laid out as they may have been, were just that – plans.  Reality often unfolds very differently.

Organizations are going through the strategic planning process right now, knowing full well that their plans may go unrealized because of the economy, a key customer deciding to go elsewhere, a key vendor going out of business, a key employee quitting suddenly, or something completely different that just happens out of the blue.

The key is being adaptable.  Rolling with the punches and getting back on your feet with your goal (slightly modified as it may be) still in front of you.   That takes being able to monitor reality and compare it with your plan.  If reality doesn’t mesh with the plan, things have to change a bit.  Maybe not a big deal in the grand scheme of things, but a change nonetheless.

How often does this happen in your organization?  How often do you monitor your organization’s reality and compare it with the plan you’ve spent weeks creating?  How often have you acknowledged the need to change your reality, your plan, or both in an effort to move forward?

There’s nothing wrong with change.  It’s life.  And life just happens sometimes.  The key is recognizing it and being willing to change.  For a lot of us, though, it’s hard letting go of the original plan and making room for something different.

My daughter insists that there was a reason we got stuck in Gary, Indiana.  Perhaps there was.  Perhaps it was to serve as a reminder to us that plans can change despite our best attempts.  We just need to be open to those changes, as unlikely or scary as they may seem.

Thanks, brass-knuckle guy, for helping move us forward.

Around the world senior leadership teams are being sequestered off into strategic planning sessions for 2010. Market-leading teams are reviewing new market data and creating road maps for their businesses that will drive future growth and increase shareholder value.   Yes, strategic planning is at the forefront of everyone’s mind this time of year, along with the promise that in 2010, the plan WILL get executed, by golly.  No more setting the plan aside and allowing everyday tasks and fires to shove it out of the way.   Instead, everyone will set aside some time each week to do a little work to execute the plan.  Next year is a new year, and it is time to do things differently.  

You just need to focus a little more, right?

The thing is, you’ve said this every year, and every year, things get in the way.  Important things like your best customer telling you that he can’t buy as much product from you due to the economy.  Or your operations manager deciding to take a job somewhere else, so you have to cover until you find another person and get him trained.  Or your business acquires a competitor…or you get acquired.  Things happen that you can’t predict, and your strategic plan, once again, gets put on a side burner, or even worse, is no longer applicable.  

It is estimated that less than 25% of strategic plans are fully executed.  Should it surprise us that over 70% of sales representatives missed their goals in 2009, yet those same representatives will receive increased goals in 2010? Was the plan off…or did their teams lack the ability and tools to execute their plan?

What are you going to do to ensure that your team is one of the 30% executing its objectives in 2010?

What you need is something that will keep you and everyone else in your team on track and in alignment with your business road map. You need something that will help you and your team communicate.  It needs to be flexible enough to allow the plan to change as circumstances warrant, to communicate those changes, and to allow you to realign everyone else’s piece of the original plan to the new one.  You need something that facilitates meaningful discussions about things that matter.

That’s a tall order.

What you need is a strategy execution management system.  Over the years I have helped teams develop strategic plans and coach teams to keep them on track. Today, though, I recommend my clients align their teams with the KeyneLink system.  Part process, part software, and part roadmap, it leads, guides, and directs you from your strategic planning process through to the complete execution of your plan.  KeyneLink is flexible enough to change as you change, to help you communicate with your team, and to ensure the key initiatives you set out to execute get done…even when it feels like your hair is on fire.

Each year, books are written and consultants like me are hired to help teams create plans that leverage their unique core competencies while taking advantage of their competitors’ weaknesses. This year I highly recommend your leaders request a private demonstration of KeyneLink to ensure you receive the return on investment from your strategic planning.  Make 2010 the year that you meet your plan and gain a market leadership position while your competitors drift off plan, move into ready-fire aim mode, and find out no one is on the same page come September of 2010.

Make 2010 your year.

Mark Allen Roberts is the President and CEO of Out of the Box Solutions Consulting and is an author of the book titled Branding Backwards, public speaker, and consultant to market leading organizations. Mark’s blog at www.nosmokeandmirrors.com is read by thousands of business leaders each month.

SF has built their entire business on their performance management software, but that’s not where business is going these days.  No, businesses have come to realize that the key to success is the realization of their corporate strategy, not the completion of annual performance appraisals and 360-degree feedback surveys.   So to address that gaping hole in their business, SF has deemed themselves a “business execution software” company.  Still the same old tools, but in a trendier package.

They talk about aligning execution to strategy, arming a business with the right people, and inciting employees to realize their potential, but they fail to address one crucial element of successful business performance:  ongoing communication.  Time and time again, research has shown that regular communication is critical to success.  Communication clarifies expectations and keeps people and organizations on the right track, but it’s all too easy to shortcut this piece.  Companies such as SF serve as enablers to managers who don’t want to spend the time actually talking with their employees by selling them software that attempts to eliminate the need for face-to-face communication amongst organizational members.   

Most organizations have come to realize that successfully executing their strategy requires communication – not just top-down, and not just once or twice a year.  So SF, knowing that that’s all it has to offer, has decided to re-package its performance management software to make it appear as if it addresses today’s business needs.  In reality, it doesn’t.  It doesn’t address the basic need for ongoing, multi-way and multi-channel communication amongst organizational members.

We do agree on one thing:  the key to organizational success is the realization of corporate strategy.  That takes alignment and engagement.  Everyone needs to know where the organization is going and how they can help it get there.  They also need to know, on a regular basis, how they’re progressing.  True strategy execution management systems such as Keyne Insight’s KeyneLink will help them do that.  Antiquated performance management systems will not.