I’ve always thought that a good strategic plan must be relevant and practical, reflecting the values of your organization and actively addressing its mission. It should be a good mix of the “blue sky thinking” that identifies new challenges and focuses on unmet needs, and the reality of workloads and resources.

When we began our strategic planning process at NDAD we all agreed that we didn’t want a plan that would look impressive, sound laudable and collect dust on a bookcase. We wanted a blueprint that would help us to continue our work and prepare the organization for the future. The only real question we had was, “How do we accomplish all this?” Fortunately, we contacted the Consensus Council for help.

Before we began the actual process of building our plan, we had a series of planning and brainstorming sessions with the Consensus Council staff. Together, we developed a process that identified and integrated the unique characteristics and objectives of NDAD and emphasized our needs for succession and resource planning. The result was a process that we believed would give us the product we were seeking.

It has been hard work, but I’m very happy to say that we got exactly what we needed. We’ve taken that product from the flip charts to the field. Our board and staff are making good progress.

The “Council” listened to us, facilitated and supported us, and continues to be available to assist us.