Strategic Planning for the 21st Century
May 2005

Every company that's even semi-serious about the future does a version of it: intentionally focusing talent and resources to protect the market it has already captured and expanding its influence through better products and services. It's a successful company's most important core competency and it can go off track in two very different ways.

First, let's fix the "easy" problem. A brilliant design often flounders with mediocre execution. The missing ingredient is most often courageous leadership.

Do your people really understand? Is there any passion and nervous excitement about what the team is up to? Do people have permission to be open with their uncertainty and fears as they move into unknown territory? Is there anyone available to coach them through the tough spots when they don't have all of the skills they need? Is there real accountability for implementation? In short, is leadership development considered an integral part of the strategic planning process? If not, you're making the assumption that people can do what hasn't been done before without growing and learning new leadership skills. By definition, leadership involves the unknown, and if there's an inability to courageously step into the unknown, you could have a brilliant plan that doesn't get much done. LionHeart calls for leadership development as a non-negotiable critical component of an "A" level strategic planning process - see our approach in Resource #5 in the "Getting Started Now" section.

Now let's explore the hard part. What is it exactly, we are designing brilliantly and executing flawlessly? How would you like to wake up on the last day of your life and realize you had been extremely successful at creating enormous wealth and recognition during your career by creating "opportunity" from water scarcity? Consider this:

"It's hardly refreshing to read in their 1993 annual report that 'all of us in the Coca-Cola family wake up each morning knowing that every single one of the world's 5.6 billion people will get thirsty that day. If we make it impossible for these 5.6 billion people to escape Coca-Cola, then we assure our future success for many years to come. Doing anything less is not an option." (Excerpted from "Will Business Save the World" by Elizabeth Debold in What Is Enlightenment? Issue 28 March-May 2005)

The article goes on to explain that corporations were initiated as legal entities to serve the public good, building railroad systems to trade merchandise all over the world, for example. Over time, the common good has been replaced with amassing private wealth as the primary motivation of many corporations. Is capitalism at fault? We don't think so. But given the deteriorating condition of our planet, we agree with Elizabeth Debold, and a growing number of visionary business leaders, that capitalism needs to evolve. We need corporations to hold themselves accountable to the public good. We need to change the game because "winning the existing game" will leave us more than disappointed in our last days.

How will this happen? During the 19th century we evolved from industrial workers, who mostly "added value" with their hands, to knowledge workers who add value with their minds. This changed the nature of business immeasurably and gave rise to the technological breakthroughs we enjoy today. But the mind can innovate effectively without regard to the overall impact on humanity. Knowledge workers need to become "wisdom workers" who primarily add value with their hearts. Before allowing our minds to figure out how to "make it happen", we must employ our hearts to determine what is worth making happen. Once we have business leaders who scrutinize their businesses with heartfelt concern for the common good of all stakeholders, we'll have planning that is strategic in the highest sense of the word. Imagine the world at the end of this century when leaders change the game to producing products and services that truly serve the common good as a first priority. Now imagine the world if we don't create that sustainable economy! It all comes back to leadership and reconnecting to the deepest wisdom in our hearts. In our opinion, "doing anything less in the 21st century is not an option." We can only begin where we are, and ultimately, the real work is to discover "who we are".