Subject: Investing time in strategic analysis

The only way (I haszard a guess!) is to persuade organisations that the time they invest looking and thinknig about drivers for change will in time pay off - in terms, for example of some or all of these:

a) delivering relevant and well recieved 'products' b) delivering better services for their beneficiaries c) increaseing their success rate in terms of income generation (i.e. will generate more bangs for their buck) d) increasing the impact of their infuencing and/or campaining work....In other words, that planning how to respond to impending social change can deliver pratical benefits and is not merely a required but unproductive intellectual exercise.

Apologies for unedited version - have now checked spelling!

Previously Ruth Lesirge wrote:

The only way (I hazard a guess!) is to persuade organisations that the time they invest looking and thinking about drivers for change will in time pay off - in terms, for example of some or all of these:

a) delivering relevant and well received 'products' b) delivering better services for their beneficiaries c) increasing their success rate in terms of income generation (i.e. will generate more bangs for their buck) d) increasing the impact of their influencing and/or campaigning work....In other words, that planning how to respond to impending social change can deliver practical benefits and is not merely a required but unproductive intellectual exercise.

Previously Stella Smith wrote:

Hi

I agree, Ruth.  Sometimes I think that looking at the drivers of social change can seem like an unproductive intellectual exercise - nice to do if you have the time and money.  What persuades me to do it is that it helps prioritise everything else.  Keeping an eye on what is likely to stay and what is likely to change in the world helps identify which areas of work are going to be important (and therefore I really ought to focus on!) and those which I can probably quietly brush under the carpet, because they won't be relevant in the coming months or years...And I guess by prioritising you get many of the benefits which Ruth mentions - developing relevant products and services for beneficiaries and increasing fundraising success...

There’s a tendency to assume that those involved in the planning process “know” how future trends are likely to affect them.  But this is not always the case:  when I recently asked a CE (whose organisation is very dependent on volunteer support and whose volunteers are predominantly in their late 50s and early 60s) how the trend for people needing or choosing paid employment for longer was likely to affect their volunteer force, she said she hadn’t thought of this but that it could be a major issue in the future.  She said they needed to think about how to make volunteering with their organisation an attractive option. 

Adopting a systematic approach to strategic / environmental analysis means an organisation will have a deeper, broader and longer term view/appreciation of possible changes that have the potential to significantly affect their organisation which can only help to improve their planning and decision making process.

I liked what emerged from the hothouse seminar we ran together on this back in Jan 07 about how doing strategic analysis can make organisations less fearful. I think the conversation was sparked by Leila Ferguson at West Berkshire Mencap who Caroline worked with as a case study for Picture This - http://www.ncvo-vol.org.uk/publications/publication.asp?id=3534, but it was also echoed by others in the room who had been through the process (particularly the scenario planning part, as that allows for powerful positive stories to be created)

Previously Ruth Lesirge wrote:

Apologies for unedited version - have now checked spelling!

Previously Ruth Lesirge wrote:

The only way (I hazard a guess!) is to persuade organisations that the time they invest looking and thinking about drivers for change will in time pay off - in terms, for example of some or all of these:

a) delivering relevant and well received 'products' b) delivering better services for their beneficiaries c) increasing their success rate in terms of income generation (i.e. will generate more bangs for their buck) d) increasing the impact of their influencing and/or campaigning work....In other words, that planning how to respond to impending social change can deliver practical benefits and is not merely a required but unproductive intellectual exercise.

I agree with Ruth's comments and would add that being aware of potential future change will help employers identify and develop the competencies that their employees of the future will need to demonstrate in order to meet those changes.  Therefore by keeping an eye on potential future change, employers will have a much clearer understanding of their future employee profile and their development needs.