The key step to effective strategic planning and goal setting

A key step to effective strategic planning and goal setting

Posted by Ben Bartlett on Tuesday, December 6th, 2011 in Goal setting, Strategic Planning, SWOT Analysis

With less than a month to go to the new year it's likely that you've already started thinking about your plans for 2012. So with that in mind, in the next couple of posts I want to share with you some tips on strategic planning and goal setting. These tips will help you to improve your planning process and put you in a better position to achieve your 2012 goals.

Today's tip is about a planning concept I first learned about over 25 years ago from the late Paul J. Meyer. Meyer was a pioneer in the personal development field, and the world's highest-selling personal development author with sales of more than US$3 billion dollars.

For me personally, Paul J. Meyer has had a huge influence on my life. I first came across his work on high performance and personal development way back in the early 80s just after I left high school. And this particular concept has been very helpful to me because it highlights a key principle of effective strategic planning. What is it? It's called the fifth point of the compass.

Introducing the fifth point of the compass

To explain the fifth point of the compass Meyer used the scenario of someone trying to reach a destination using a map and a compass. In Meyer's scenario, this person has a destination (goal), a route (or directions via the map) and a compass (guide). Yet, as Meyer suggested, this individual would not reach his desired destination without the most important piece of information, which he referred to as the fifth point of the compass.

And what is the fifth point of the compass? Knowing exactly where you are now. And why you are there.

Think about it. You can have all the best laid plans and goals in the world but they are of little value until you have an accurate understanding of where you are now, and the reasons why you are in that position.

In reality, plans and goals based upon faulty or inaccurate information – such as an unclear picture of where you are now – aren't best-laid at all. They are little more than false hopes and dreams because the fact is, you cannot set realistic strategies and goals, and develop proper plans until you have a clear picture of your current position.

With regards to the fifth point of the compass, three of the biggest mistakes I see business owners making when strategic planning are these:

1. They don't have enough information in which to accurately assess their current position.

2. They have the information, but they interpret it incorrectly

3. They don't have a clear understanding of why they are in their current position.

These situations create a negative flow on effect because subsequent plans are all built upon faulty or poorly interpreted data.

So the key to accurately knowing your current position? Quite simply, it is having accurate information – and then knowing how to interpret this information correctly. Sun Tzu, the great Chinese military leader, put it this way:

"'Know the enemy, know yourself; your victory will never be endangered. Know the ground, know the weather; your victory will then be total.'"

So, before you go off and start setting your plans and goals for 2012, you must accurately know your current situation. Accordingly, you must have accurate information via your SWOT analysis on at least the following: