The document outlines a strategic planning lab on strategic doing. It discusses the traditional linear model of strategic planning and proposes an emerging model of strategic doing that is more networked, collaborative, and focused on continuous civic engagement. The lab agenda includes examining the current state of strategic planning practice and emerging practices of strategic doing through workshops and exercises. Case studies are presented on strategic planning processes in various communities.

1. Strategic Planning Lab
Strategic Doing Pack
Ed Morrison
Economic Development Institute
December, 2007
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3. Agenda
Introductions
Part 1: The Current Practice of Strategic Planning
Questions throughout
Part 2: Emerging Models of Strategic Doing
Questions throughout
Collaborative Workspace
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4. Part 1: Current State of the Practice
A call for volunteers
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5. What is a strategy?
A strategy draws logical links between
where you are and where you want to go
A strategy is a set of models, tools and civic
processes to get you from here to there
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6. 6

7. What a traditional strategy looks like
Vision (or Your Strategic Outcome)
Mission (or your Purpose)
Assessment (Where do you stand?)
SWOT
Strategic Initiatives: Projects
(What will you be doing?)
Action Plans and Budget
(Who is doing what and how much will it cost?)
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8. SWOT: Leverage strengths to opportunities and
manage weaknesses to anticipate threats
Strengths Opportunities
Positive
Positive Positive
Internal External
Weaknesses Threats
Negative
Negative Negative
Internal External
Internal External
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9. Traditional Strategic Planning Process
Linear
Plan Sell Implement
6 months to 1 year 6 months to 1 year 3 to 5 years
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10. Examples: Manchester, NH and Tri-Cities, WA
Source: Angelou Economics 10

11. Steps in a Strategic Process
The current state of the practice
1. Assemble a Core Team and Outline Scope for the Process: who,
what, when, where, how
2. Draft a “Plan for the Plan”
3. Consult with stakeholders and revise the Plan for the Plan
4. Conduct baseline research; Launch project web site
5. Draft one or more Reports to Frame Issues and Opportunities
6. Use Forums and Workshops to Refine Initiatives
7. Define an Action Plan, Budget and Review Process
8. Launch and Celebrate
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12. Exercise 1
Planning a Strategic Planning Process
(Developing a Plan for the Plan)
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13. Planning a Strategic Planning Process
What are you trying to
accomplish? What does
victory look like?
What topics or issues need to
be addressed? Where is the
pressure to plan arising?
Who are the stakeholders?
Who is pushing? Who will be
touched?
How much time do you have?
How much budget do you
have?
What staff resources do you
have?
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14. Summary Plan for the Plan
Phase 1 Phase 2 Phase 3 Phase 4
Estimated Elapsed Time in Months:
Estimated Budget:
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15. Action Plan for the Plan
Activity Start Date End Date Who is responsible?
Phase 1
Assemble a core team June July Me
Phase 2
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16. Part 2: Emerging Practices of Strategic Doing:
Some Background

17. Straightforward concepts are hard to apply
Economic development organizations in metro Charleston, SC
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18. New Forms of “Strategic Doing”
Networked
30 days to 180 days
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19. Source: Ed Morrison
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20. Costs have collapsed as global markets integrate...
This process started in the mid 1950ʼs
Source: World Bank
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21. The Internet has exploded...Welcome to our
first interactive mass medium
Source: Internet Systems Consortium
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22. Source: Ed Morrison
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23. The consequences....
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24. Key Point 1:
We need to shift our
thinking from hierarchies
to networks
Thereʼs no top...no
bottom...only links and
nodes
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25. Key Point 2:
Command and control
does not work in the
civic space
We cannot argue our
way to prosperity
Source: Ed Morrison
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26. Key Point 3:
We need to
connect and align
our resources in
the civic space
Source: Ed Morrison
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27. The implications of networked business models
Source: Ed Morrison 27

28. Key Point 4:
We need
continuous civic
engagement...
New leadership
habits of
collaboration
Source: Ed Morrison
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29. Key Point 5:
People move in the
direction of their
conversations
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30. Key Point 6:
We need open participation and
leadership direction to guide our
conversations
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31. Key Point 7:
We need to develop the practice of
“strategic doing”
Source: Ed Morrison
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32. Key Point 8:
Most regions are fragmented...
People are still living in a Curve 1 world
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33. Key Point 9:
We can use network
maps, new leadership
skills and “strategic
doing” to weave our
networks
Source: Map of leadership network in Evansville, IN
using Inflow software developed by Valdis Krebs
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34. Key Point 10:
To build regional collaboration, take the
Shanghai perspective
Our View Their View
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35. 35

36. 36

37. A framework for strategic action
Source: Ed Morrison 37

38. 38

39. You can use this framework to map
resources and goals
Source: Ed Morrison
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40. 40

41. Source: Ed Morrison
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42. 42

43. Use workshops and
workshop exercises to move
people around the circle. Use
civic forums to build habits.
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44. 44

45. 45

46. 46

47. 47

48. 48

49. 49

50. Case 2: CuyahogaNext: Cuyahoga County, Ohio
Source: Ed Morrison
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51. Basic Roadmap For CuyahogaNext advisors – First 3 Months
TODAY April May and June
North Coast
NCC Design Team NCC Focus NCC Alignment
Clusters Design
Formation Workshop Workshop
Effort
Consulting
CuyahogaNext CNa Design Team Team CNa Focus CuyahogaNext
advisors Formation Workshop advisors
Cuyahoga
CIZ Design Team CIZ Focus NCC Alignment
Innovation Zones
Formation Workshop Workshop
Design Effort
Objective: Objectives: Objectives:
• get started by focusing on key issues • recruit private sector organizations • Complete community
• begin community formation formalization
• Prototype launch plans
Getting Started
Copyright © 1998-2006 The Cerulean Group and I-Open
Page | 03.28.06
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52. Case 3: Commerce Lexington, KY
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53. Exercise 2
Conducting a Strategic Doing Workshop
(Developing a Plan for the Plan)

54. Exercise 1
Exercise 3
Exercise 2
Source: Ed Morrison
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55. Strategic Outcome Strategic Outcomes describe a desired state in
the future. Descriptions of the desired state
should include the idea of stretch, measurable
goals.
“A well-educated workforce” is not as good a
strategic outcome as “a workforce in which less
than 10% of young people drop out of high school
and more than 70% continue on to post-
secondary school”.
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56. Worksheet 1 Your name:______________
Focus:
Strategic Collaborations
Strategic Outcome 1
Describe the strategic partners which we
Describe the outcome in 1 year
can engage to accomplish this outcome
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57. Worksheet 2 Your name:______________
Align:
Strategic Outcome:
Key Metric Areas 1.
What do we measure?
2.
3.
Key Milestones 1.
What marks the path forward?
2.
3.
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58. Worksheet 3: Your name:______________
Execute
Our Strategic Outcome:
Time frame What Who
In the next 6
months
In the next 3
months
In the next 30
days
Next week
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59. Appendix
Some Useful Slides
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60. Components of a Strategy
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61. Ground Rules for a Strategic Doing Workshop
• Move fast: Focus on the task at hand: Don’t get hijacked: Limit digressions: No
speeches: No whining
• Stop thinking only about today’s issues: Focus on outcomes in 10 years, your
legacy, your children, your grandchildren: Get your eyes off the rearview mirror
• Encourage “stretch” thinking: Generate new ideas: Don’t burn ideas: Don’t
recycle old opinions
• Push for specifics: Get beyond rhetoric: No bumper sticker thinking
• No blame game: No simplistic solutions: Think in terms of connections,
incentives and systems
• Balance the participation: Hold each other to account: Speak up if you feel the
group is heading off course: Disagree
• Fill out your worksheets so others can read them: We need to capture today’s
“knowledge assets”
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62. Exercise: Draw a Your community name
Roadmap of Your Process
Describe your situation. Why is a strategic process needed in your community or region?
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63. Exercise: Draw a Your community name
Roadmap of Your Process
Name three to five key features that will shape your strategic process
Factor 1:
Factor 2:
Factor 3:
Factor 4:
Factor 5:
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64. Exercise: Draw a Your community name
Roadmap of Your Process
Describe the Purpose of your Process. What
are you trying to achieve? What does
victory look like?
What’s our best guess of the contents of
Brainpower; Innovation and Entrepreneurship; Quality,
the strategy? What will we include? Circle all
Connected Places; Branding; Collaboration
we will include:
What is the time schedule for the process?
How much time to we think we have before
we deliver something? Any time
constraints?
How much money do we have? Will we use
outside consultants or use our own teams?
What staff resources do we have?
Who should be on our core team? Any
challenges in recruiting this team?
How strong is our core team? What do we
ned to do to strengthen it?
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65. Collaborative Workspace
If you would like to join a collaborative web space to continue working on
these concepts, please e-mail Ed Morrison at edmorrison@earthlink.net
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