Where Have All the Strategic Plans Gone?

The views expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of ASPA as an organization.

By Andrew Kleine
August 12, 2024

For many organizations, be they public, private or not-for-profit, the strategic plan is a foundational document. Done well, a strategic plan is a roadmap for overcoming challenges and seizing opportunities, a statement of priorities to guide budget and policy decisions and a cultural touchstone that aligns the organization to a common purpose. Why is it, then, that strategic plans are so hard to find on the websites of America’s largest cities and counties? My research found not even one of the top 10 cities and counties features a strategic plan link on its homepage. 

Among the cities, only two have a current strategic plan at all. There are plans for police, parks, land use and transportation, climate action plans, homelessness plans and fiscal plans, but very few enterprise-wide plans. Half of the counties have a current master strategic plan, with a similar assortment of narrowly focused plans.

If local governments have given up on strategic plans, it’s because they’ve seen too many wind up as shelf art. Let’s look at the mistakes that lead to bad plans and how to create good ones.

The most common problem with public sector strategic plans is that they’re not strategic. Because they’re informed by extensive (excessive?) community input and because every department head and elected official has a say, these plans tend to be bloated with goals, objectives and initiatives to the point that priorities are undetectable. 

Even the best strategic plans can become outdated quickly, overtaken by unforeseen events, political shifts, new data and more. There’s a difference between a strategic plan and strategic planning. Local governments that produce static strategic plans and don’t have a continuous strategic planning function may soon find themselves on a road to nowhere.

Strategic plans are the product of heavy deliberation, debate, editing and expense. Then the even heavier work of implementation begins, and many great ideas remain just that. Poorly executed strategic plans can be blamed on lack of resources or accountability, but in many cases the true cause is the plan itself being unfocused and unrealistic.

How can cities and counties create strategic plans that give clear direction, solve problems and inspire confidence? Here are five essential steps:

1. Understand the current state. Classic strategic planning starts with a vision for the future, and much of the planning effort involves brainstorming new ideas, programs and initiatives for realizing the vision. So that your plan is grounded in reality, start instead with a Step 0 of gathering and analyzing data about the challenges you face.

There’s an old management aphorism that goes something like this: “A problem well understood is a problem half solved.” If you know—down to the root causes—why your residents don’t feel safe or your business districts are struggling, or why there is a large racial disparity in life expectancy, you will be better able to describe how you want the future to be and to devise a plan to make it so.

2. Zero in on strategic questions. My thinking about strategic planning has been influenced in part by Richard Rumelt’s book Good Strategy/Bad Strategy. Rumelt writes that “the term ‘strategy’ should mean a cohesive response to an important challenge” and that “leaders may create bad strategy by mistakenly treating strategy work as an exercise in goal setting rather than problem solving.”

Before getting to goals, strategic planning should first identify the most critical problems that need solving, which I like to put in the form of questions. The questions should be as specific as possible, informed by the current-state analysis. For example: How can we lower the risks of homeownership for minority buyers? To ease traffic congestion, should we focus on managing supply or demand? How can we reduce the number of people living in flood-prone areas?

3. Make the plan measurable. A strategic plan need not have goals, objectives or initiatives, per se, but however it’s organized, it should point to results that can be tracked and managed toward. Plans with numerical targets provide the ultimate in direction and accountability. Result statements might include, “Increase the share of renewable energy sources from 25 percent to 50 percent of total county energy use by 2035,” “Build 5,000 housing units affordable to families below 80 percent of average median income by 2030” and “Increase the juvenile diversion rate from 45percent to 75 percent by 2028.”

Setting specific result targets is scary, but having a clear destination allows planners to design the right action steps, estimate costs and know when course correction is needed as the plan is executed.

4. Activate the plan. As noted above, implementation can be the bugaboo of strategic planning. Three ways to move your strategic plan forward are to connect it to the budget, “stat” it and communicate like crazy.

Traditional budgeting is backward looking; it brings last year’s budget forward and makes incremental changes. A strategic budget starts from desired results for the future and rewards proposals that align with those results.

Stat programs typically monitor day-to-day operational metrics at the department or service level. The stat model can also be used to make strategic plan progress and results visible, to talk about what’s on and off track and to drive improvements where needed.

Good strategic plans lead to changes, sometimes disruptive ones. Engaging stakeholders to help shape the plan, being honest about the benefits and trade-offs and continuously communicating about vision, values and progress are critical to success. 

5. Keep on planning. A strategic plan should be a living document. Make it a regular practice to reassess your community’s and organization’s challenges, opportunities and trends in the world around you. Remember, a rolling plan gathers no dust.

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Author: Andrew Kleine is a managing director in the Government and Public Sector practice at EY-Parthenon, Ernst & Young LLP. He is the author of City on the Line: How Baltimore Transformed Its Budget to Beat the Great Recession and Deliver Outcomes (Rowman & Littlefield, 2018) and has served as Baltimore’s budget director. His email is [email protected] and his X/Twitter handle is @awkleine.

The views reflected in this article are the views of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Ernst & Young LLP or other members of the global EY organization.

 

           

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