Strategic Plan
For those of you that are unfamiliar with Strategic Planning, it is a way of analyzing your current situation and problems and coming up with solutions for those issues - both short term and long term - taking into consideration the resources that are available or will be in the future.
A Strategic Plan is meant to be an iterative process, that once started continues year after year with reanalysis and changes to continue to make the organization better than it was when it started. It is an opportunity to ask the question - where will this organization be in 5, 10, or 20 years from now? And, if your answer is a negative one, it is your responsibility and opportunity to change it for the better.
The analysis starts with that very real question: Where will we be in 10 or 20 years from now? It continues with a definition of what our Core Values are (What do we believe in and why are we here doing this?), what our Mission currently is (What is our primary goal or job?) and what our Vision of our future should be (Where do we want to go?).
Once we have those starting points we can do SWOT analysis (SWOT - an frank examination of our Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, & Threats). This is a lengthy process where these categories are fully examined in all that we do. Once we have that information, we can prioritize our problems, determine resources and time to accomplish tasks and begin to resolve the problems facing us thereby building our future and the future of those that follow us.
One must agree it is irresponsible to "kick the can down the road" and expect someone else to come in and "clean up after you". That is why a Strategic Plan looks at the current status quo and strives through an iterative process to constantly improve so that in 5, 10, or 20 years from now you won't be in a negative place.