On the importance of being strategic...

[OpXGroup]

All political leanings and emotions aside, now more than ever,
organizations must concentrate on being strategic in everything they
do. When we say strategic, we mean think about the future, not just
the immediate crisis. Some very wise organizational leaders (they
know who they are) have initiated full-scale long range planning and
capacity building projects in the midst of economic turmoil. History,
research and experience would almost guarantee that their
organizations will be the most successful in their market over the
next 10 years because of the strategic vision being employed.

It is paradoxical that so much empirical evidence exists that
organizations should take a thoughtful and well researched approach to
all of their operations, yet so few actually do. This applies to main-
stream, small to medium size organizations as well as large
conglomerates. Taking a short-term, parochial view of your business
may lead only to mediocrity and will likely lead to lack of
sustainability.

True genius is in taking calculated risks that are embedded in a long-
term strategic plan. Pushing the envelope, as they say, is the only
way true economic progress will be made. That envelope should be
crafted from an over-arching and well researched plan which is created
by a diversity of thinking and viewpoints. In addition, those same
"viewpoints" should be regularly invited to a collective review and re-
positioning of the plan over the years.