Engineering vs Strategic Planning
A modernized approach to business planning that includes the “how”
In traditional strategic planning, organizations define their objectives, assess their current situation, and develop goals. Most plans involve analyzing strengths and weaknesses and identifying opportunities and threats, relative to the marketplace. What makes Engineering different? As the word suggests, Engineering goes deeper into the design and predictive behaviors the organization must execute to achieve its goals. In a nutshell, the “how”. Engineering bakes in the actions and measures that are necessary to make goals a reality. Built on the learnings from the Education stage, Engineering always results in a more comprehensive plan in several ways:
Aligns resources: Engineering ensures that the organization's resources, including personnel, finances, and technology, are aligned with its objectives. At the same time, it exposes outages from a structural, skills, or financial perspective. It puts focus on achieving the most critical goals and avoids wasting resources on activities that do not contribute to the organization's strategic success.
Provides direction: The process of Engineering helps organizations establish the “why” and a clear direction for the future. This direction setting helps to align the efforts of all stakeholders, from employees to investors, on the organization’s priorities and achieving its goals.
Improves decision-making: Engineering provides a framework for decision-making that considers the organization's objectives, resources, and constraints. This helps to ensure that decisions are made have a long-term alignment and contribute to the organization's success.
Increases accountability: Engineering sets clear goals and performance metrics around the predictive behaviors that hold individuals and teams accountable for their contributions.
Promotes adaptability: The process of Engineering helps organizations increase agility by identifying changes in the external environment that can impact their objectives. Each strategic path must have multiple scenarios or “what if” contingencies, that are regularly reviewed and adjusted to adapt to those changes and stay on track toward achieving their goals.
All said, in a fast-paced and rapidly-changing business climate, Engineering is a new methodology for organizations to better assess the existing landscape, align resources, focus on priorities, and increase speed and agility. As an alternative to strategic planning, organizations can increase their chances of success and take the competitive lead in their industry. To try on what makes Engineering different and how the 5e Lean Execution Model elevates the probability of goal attainment, contact me at Brand Fuel Solutions.
www.brandfuelsolutions.com