How to Keep Your Strategic Planning Nimble and Responsive

Associations are often evolutionary rather than revolutionary in their strategic planning. They tend to look for incremental changes that build on existing pillars and that are slowly rolled out over multiple years, hoping for as little disruption as possible.

However, in this era of accelerating change, strategic agility is becoming as critical to associations as it is to Fortune 500 companies.

What is strategic agility?

In 2021, in the aftermath of COVID, three experts in strategy and research wrote in a Harvard Business Review article that “Strategic agility is the ability to improve performance — not just survive, but thrive — amid disruption.” 

McKinley’s report, Next-level Governance: Leading with Strategic Agility points out that for associations, agility is about the ability to make directional changes based on market and organizational conditions. Strategic agility requires the capacity and skill to redirect resources based on what is happening in the organization and the marketplace to achieve maximum mission impact.

Is it really possible for associations to embrace strategic agility and drive meaningful change through the traditional strategic planning process? 

Yes, but the process must be centered around the following key inputs and approaches:

Keep a pulse on the market. A robust strategic planning process cannot cut corners on research. And that research has to go beyond asking members to rate their satisfaction or what member benefits they would like. It’s important to learn what’s keeping members and customers up at night.

Equally important is market intelligence — assessing the competition to your association (and competition comes in many forms), looking at sector-wide trends, and considering how key forces shaping the world today (think AI, sustainability, political upheaval) will impact the industry or profession you represent 5-10 years from now.

Build a nimble governance structure. In most associations, strategic planning is contingent on the CEO-board partnership. The board must have an ear to the ground and require the association to acknowledge and address market conditions in strategic planning and implementation.

Strategic agility can only be achieved if the board has the required diversity of expertise and perspectives, is future-focused, and fully engaged in the planning process. In addition, the size and structure of the board, as well as decision-making processes, should allow for nimbleness, flexibility and rapid response to market realities.

Move quickly from strategy to implementation. Jack Welch said, “In real life, strategy is actually very straightforward. You pick a general direction and implement like hell.” Given the volatility of market conditions in most sectors, the strategy needs to be implemented rapidly and with full force. 

In fact, the strategic planning process itself needs to be accelerated — consensus-driven processes that take months to evolve and wordsmith to perfection can make the plan defunct before it is launched. Strategic agility requires a plan that allows the association to take informed risks, test new approaches with a minimum viable product and pilots, set concrete goals and monitor results, and be prepared to learn from bumps and setbacks along the way.

Empower and equip teams for strategy implementation: The rapid pace of implementation that strategic ability demands requires resourcing staff and leaders appropriately. New ventures to respond to organizational and market changes require an intentional and robust investment of time, talent and treasure. Focusing on something new might mean allowing key players to delegate or pause something else, so they have the bandwidth.

More importantly, new ventures and new approaches can hit a wall if the inherent organizational culture is one of resistance to change. Cultural preparedness and intentional change management — clarity of vision, obtaining buy-in, recruiting champions of change — are critical to realizing the full potential of strategic agility.

Strategic Agility in Action

McKinley worked with the American Academy of Sleep Medicine (AASM) to develop their2024–2027 strategic plan. Initial research conducted as part of the strategic planning process revealed a higher-than-average rate of member satisfaction overall. Members already regarded AASM as a go-to resource for practice excellence. However, the association’s leadership team and board did not want to simply maintain the status quo. They wanted to be responsive to evolving market conditions and future threats and opportunities. 

AASM members’ biggest concern was with financial challenges — they wanted the association to step up advocacy with payers for improved reimbursement. They also asked AASM to continue to raise awareness of sleep medicine. As a result, advocacy and public awareness were designated as a strategic priority area. 

Technology ranked lower on the list of member concerns, but the board and CEO did not want to underestimate the visible impact of evolving technologies on the practice of sleep medicine. They added “Guide sleep team professionals in integrating new and emerging technologies in clinical care” as a distinct strategic pillar and resolved to lead the dialogue on the implementation of AI in sleep medicine.

By keeping a pulse on the market and realizing the need to keep its members ahead of the curve, AASM was able to embrace agility throughout its strategic planning process.

Applying Strategic Agility at Your Organization

Associations that monitor market conditions and trends, are willing to take informed risks to remain responsive, and that move quickly from strategy to action while closely monitoring results are well positioned for strategic agility. 

Check out McKinley's Next Level Governance: Leading with Strategic Agility report for more on strategic agility.

Get in touch to talk through your approach to strategic planning!