We were six hours into the planning session. We had covered a lot of territory, lots of flipchart pages on the wall. Several items had emerged in three areas that were deemed important by the group. The ideas were good, but I still wasn’t happy.

Gordon had been quiet most of the afternoon, but as we circled the table for comments, he wasn’t shy. “I will be very interested to see how you take all of these ideas and turn them into something we can work with,” he said.

My heart skipped a beat. I had seen many planning sessions get stuck at exactly this point. There were lots of good ideas recorded on the wall, but in the end, what would come of those ideas? Gordon was serious because he had seen it, too. Lots of energy, high fives, but few results.

I took Gordon’s curiosity, not as a challenge, but as permission to move to the next step. This group wanted to make some things happen, but without some very specific work, all this planning would be wasted.

“Q-tips,” I said, reaching in my pocket. I pulled out a handful of the cotton tipped swabs and tossed them on the table. “The next step is Q-tips. For each idea that you are serious about, we simply have to define the Q-tip. We have to define the Quantity, the Quality and the Time period. QQT.” -TF

“We have to find a purpose that has us?” Rachel was confused. “I’m not sure I understand. We are trying to do strategic planning for 2007. I get that we have to define our purpose. I know that purpose will drive the rest of the plan. But you make it sound like that purpose has to be some powerful compelling force. We bake bread.”

“Exactly!” I said. “What kind of bread do you bake?”

“Well, we bake all kinds of bread.”

“So, why do you bake bread?”

“I don’t understand.” Rachel’s head was moving from side to side. She wasn’t disagreeing, but she was having difficulty with the question.

“Why do you bake bread?” I repeated.

“Because our customers buy it.”

“And, why do your customers buy it?”

“Well, bread is consumed at almost every meal in some form or another. People eat a lot of bread. It’s a comfort food.” Rachel was trying.

“Why is bread so important to people?”

“It’s just part of life, bread goes with everything. It’s universal. Around the world, all cultures eat bread. When people get together, they break bread. It’s almost a bond between people.”

“And do you bake quality bread?” I asked.

“The best,” Rachel smiled. “Hot out of the oven, warm, soft, drizzle a little honey on it, just the smell of it makes you feel good.”

“Rachel, you are on the right track. Somewhere in what you describe is purpose. Somewhere in there is vision. Somewhere in there is mission.”

“It’s funny you should say that,” she said. “In the hallway is our mission statement, only it’s just a picture, of a steaming loaf of bread emerging from an oven door.”

What is your company’s mission? If you were to take a picture, what would it be a picture of? Post a comment below. -TF

“Why do you think you never looked at your plan this past year?” I asked. Rachel was quite interested in making her 2007 plan different.

“I’m not sure,” she replied. “It was almost like it didn’t matter. We could re-read it and talk about, but it still didn’t seem to matter all that much.”

“That’s why purpose is so important. That’s why purpose is the first step. Purpose drives the rest of the plan. Without a well defined purpose, your plan will be uninteresting and just sit on the shelf.”

“So, we really need to have a purpose,” Rachel was nodding, enthusiasm creeping across her face.

“No,” I said. Rachel’s face turned quizzical. “You don’t need to have a purpose. You need to find a purpose that has you. You need to find a purpose that has a hold on you so tight that you can’t stop thinking about it. You need to find a purpose that captures you. When you find that purpose, you won’t have any problem pulling your plan off the shelf and working it.

“Find a purpose that has you.” -TF

“Why and which?” Rachel repeated. We had been talking about planning. Come the first week in January, Rachel had to present her 2007 plan to the rest of her management team.

“How did you approach this plan last year?” I asked.

“I’m not sure, seems like we just got the group together and set some goals for the year.”

“Interesting. And, how did that work out?”

“It’s funny,” Rachel said. Her eyes wandered to the ceiling. “We never really looked at them again, until last week when I started thinking about 2007.”

“Did you accomplish any of the things you set out to do?”

“We knocked a couple of things off the list, but I have to tell you, some of the stuff didn’t even matter. It was really kind of vague.”

“So, why did you create the plan?” I asked.

“Because we were supposed to,” Rachel replied.

“So, you never really asked the question –why-?”

“Maybe, you are right, that is the first question.”

“I am just not sure where to start,” said Rachel. “We have to start working, now, toward a planning meeting scheduled for December. This is important, but I am not sure about the first step.”

“Think about the journalism questions that every reporter must ask,” I instructed.

Rachel started working these over in her head.

• “Who?
• What?
• Where?
• When?
• How?”

“There are two more questions,” I prompted.

• “Why?”

“The last question is the tough one, escapes most people,” I lamented. Rachel finally shrugged her shoulders.

“Which?” I responded. “So, which of these questions are strategic?”

Again, Rachel began to test each of the questions. None passed the test until she arrived at why and which.

“Most managers spend their day thinking about what and how, but first, we have to look at why (purpose) and which (strategic decisions based on purpose).”

During the next 60 days, as a manager, you are likely to participate in either tactical planning for 2007 or strategic planning for 2008 and beyond. Remember, the first questions are about purpose and direction. Ask why and which, before you ask what and how. -TF