Leading in a Blizzard:
Managing Your Strategic Planning Process
Workshop Handouts
Prepared for:
Public Library Directors
For Libraries and Literacy, Ministry of Education
Wednesday, May 9, 2012
Sheraton Vancouver Airport Hotel
Richmond, B.C.
Prepared by:
Cathy Scott-May
Strategic Planning Consultant
Phone: 250.359.7831
Email: cscottmay@netidea.com
Leading in a Blizzard: Managing Your Strategic Planning Process
Wednesday, May 9, 2012
Sheraton Airport Hotel, Richmond
Proposed Agenda
9:00 AM
Welcome and Introductions:
Mari Martin and Jacqueline van Dyk, Libraries and Literacy,
Ministry of Education
9:20
What is Strategic Planning? An Overview
9:50
Identifying the Participants
10:10
Defining the Universal Truths
10:30
Break
10:45
Dealing with Uncertainty
Noon
Lunch to be provided
12:30 PM
Finding Direction Through a Community-Led Approach to Library
Services
2:00
Break
2:15
Drafting the Strategic Plan – What can we learn from existing
plans?
 Participants are invited to bring a hard copy of their existing
strategic plan or policies that currently provide them with
strategic direction.
3:15
Building a Work Plan
4:00
Review of the day
Leading in a Blizzard: Managing Your Strategic Planning Process
Workshop Handout
May 9, 2012
Page 1
A. What is strategic planning?
A process that helps organizations build and maintain an adaptive culture, which is needed to
respond to the changing needs of the communities we serve. All organizations tend toward conserving
their resources and in doing so, can become less flexible – rigidity leads to crisis. Strategic planning
supports the organization in opening up to alternative perspectives and reaffirming an adaptive
culture.
The adaptive cycle (Holling 2001, Gunderson and Holling 2002): a useful metaphor for
understanding incremental and radical innovation in complex systems. Adapted
from Panarchy by Lance H. Gunderson and C. S. Holling, editors. Island Press.
4-Phased Cycle
Exploitation: creating a
trajectory for the
future
Organizational Implications
Traditional planning leads to best use policies or desired future state
with single emphasis management direction
Alternative: develop multiple plausible future scenarios and define a
flexible approach that sets direction for what you can control and
enables responsiveness given what is beyond your control
Conservation: can
result in a narrowing of
perspectives and
activities in response to
what is currently
known
Seek efficiencies with an increasing focus on how to best realize the
chosen option and decreasing emphasis on considering alternative
options. Hence, there is a narrowing of perspectives
Alternative: regular review and evaluation to seek input from broad
range of perspectives
Leading in a Blizzard: Managing Your Strategic Planning Process
Workshop Handout
May 9, 2012
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Change/Crisis:
the issue is the
magnitude of the
change and to what
extent it was
forecasted and can be
accommodated
More rigid institutions pursue limited options that cannot address the
non-linear complexity of systems and associated concerns of affected
stakeholders. Gridlock results, combined with institutions being faced
with perpetual surprise.
Reconfiguration:
can be positive and/or
negative
Potential for institutional demise or renewal that incorporates adaptive
approaches to management.
Alternative: embrace creative tension
Where are we in the cycle, how did we get here, and how does this shape where we can and want to
go?
Research: getting to know our communities in new ways
translate
into shared
knowledge
gather
information
to derive
meaning
Information
 Data from internal and external statistical sources
 Insights from traditional supporters and beyond through consultation
Develop shared knowledge through engagement that incorporates:


Values
Experience


Training
Intuitive thinking
In order to explore: What are the trends? What do we know about the stability of the factors driving
the trends?
What does this mean for our current and future operations?
 Challenges
 Opportunities
Leading in a Blizzard: Managing Your Strategic Planning Process
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May 9, 2012
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Outcomes
Focus and Clarity: What we can best do. What we won’t be doing.
What message do we want to send: are we continuing to build on a strong
foundation? Changing direction?
The How:
What you do:
Goals - what success
looks like
Why you exist:
Vision
Mission
Values
Objectives - strategic
priorities requried to
realize success, can
be measured and
evaluated
Strategies - required
tasks, refined
through annual
work plans
Indicators of success
- how you measure
success and what
data sources you
will use
Principles
The following terminology and definitions are suggestions; some call indicators of success
“performance measures”, others interchange the terms goals and objectives. What is important is for
you and your core team to have a shared understanding of what needs to be in your strategic plan and
be in agreement on the language that will work best for you.
Vision: looking to the long term. Positive and inspiring, but clear and meaningful. Based on what we
have learned about the needs of our communities and how we will help meet those needs.
Mission: a strong, succinct statement – why do our communities believe that we are a critical public
institution? What mandate do we understand our communities have given to us?
Values and Principles: guidance for how we operate, which are necessary to realize our vision and
mission.
Goals: suggest three, not more than five. Statements of intent – speak to the universal truths. Our
organization may not unilaterally be able to achieve the goals – others in our communities also have a
role - but the goals speak to our core responsibilities.
Leading in a Blizzard: Managing Your Strategic Planning Process
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May 9, 2012
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Objectives: reflects agreements on what we can best do and achieve over the stated period of the
plan. (We may want to also develop a list of what we will not do, which doesn’t have to be part of the
strategic plan, but provides guidance for those writing the plan.) Objectives must be measurable –
what are we prepared to be held accountable for and publicly report on?
Strategies: the actions we commit to taking. Some may be process related, while others can be more
tangible. These are not a repeat of what we were going to do anyways – they are strategic-level
commitments that guide our operational-level decisions, particularly when faced with difficult choices.
Indicators of Success: what we will measure/track and report on to highlight achievements and will
provide positive guidance for any changes we need to take. Can be specific targets (e.g. number of
public events and participants for each event), process milestones (e.g. revised human resources
strategy completed and implemented by March 2013), qualitative input from users (e.g. exit surveys),
etc.
Beware of the Canadian tendency to compromise! It is important to find language that
is meaningful to most people; however, people love to wordsmith. When leaders are
more concerned about being inclusive than the clarity of what is in the strategic plan,
then statements become long, vague and incoherent. Strong leadership is required:
listen to all of the input, take some time to reflect, and then make the final edits –
don’t leave this to an external consultant.
Having said that, we do sometimes need to compromise 
Leading in a Blizzard: Managing Your Strategic Planning Process
Workshop Handout
May 9, 2012
Page 5
Finding Direction Through Community Engagement
The community is the expert on its own needs
Community-Led Libraries recognize that….
 library culture, along with rules and procedures, creates significant barriers to inclusion.
 same or consistent library service, which does not take into account the social and economic
situation of each patron, disadvantages socially excluded people
 people want to see themselves represented in the library and to have an opportunity to
participate
 building relationships is at the core of effective service planning
 planning relevant and effective library services for socially excluded community members
requires a collaboration of equals between community members and the library
How did we do? Questions to ask
 What techniques, approaches and information sources helped us learn about the community?
 Were we careful to let community members define their needs? Or did we find ourselves
listening to surrogates, such as service provider staff, instead of talking directly to community
members?
 Did we take enough time to listen to suggestions from the community? Or did we find ourselves
making enthusiastic recommendations, and acting as experts?
 How did we include community members in the consultation and planning process? Were we
careful not to confuse tokenism with true community involvement?
 When the planning process was complete, did we go back to community members and involve
them in a collaborative evaluation process? What did we learn from the evaluation? How will
we work with community members to incorporate their suggestions?
 Did we meet the community’s needs and wants – as they had expressed their needs and wants
– in a way that was relevant and significant to them?
For more information
Community-Led Libraries Toolkit http://www.librariesincommunities.ca/resources/CommunityLed_Libraries_Toolkit.pdf
Beth Davies, Project Manager, Vancouver Public Library
beth.davies@vpl.ca
604-331-3772
Leading in a Blizzard: Managing Your Strategic Planning Process
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May 9, 2012
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B. Aspects to Think About
1. Identifying the Participants
Build or revise an existing spreadsheet or database of contacts. It is an iterative process – you will
continue to add people and organizations as the process unfolds.
1a) Who needs to be on my core team that will help me design and implement the strategic planning
process?
1b) Who needs to learn about the challenges and opportunities we are exploring?
1c) Who can help us learn?
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May 9, 2012
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1d) Who will be interested in helping us define future direction and make trade-off decisions?
1e) Who will be needed to implement the plan?
Users
Active supporters: have a vested and personal interest
in your success. We can keep going back to them.
Collaborators
Partners
Partners: significant resources are required to build
and maintain these relationships. We can keep going
back to them, provided that we continually provide
them with support.
Active
supporters
Collaborators: usually project-specific relationships.
We can keep going back to them, but the terms of
engagement need to be revisited each time.
Users: Make use of the services we provide – could be
directly as library members or indirectly, such as
schools that benefit from support to its students.
Require tangible and direct benefits in order to engage
with us on our issues.
Leading in a Blizzard: Managing Your Strategic Planning Process
Workshop Handout
May 9, 2012
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2. Defining the Universal Truths
The solid ground you stand on.
2a) What has been and will continue to be at the core of what our library provides?
2b) Why is it important to our communities that we continue to provide these core services?
Leading in a Blizzard: Managing Your Strategic Planning Process
Workshop Handout
May 9, 2012
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3. Assessing Uncertainty



About our library services, staff, Board, volunteers and facilities
About the communities we serve, e.g. demographics, economic and social resilience, other
organizations
About the broader context in which our communities and library must function
3a) What do we know and how do we know it (how can we validate what we feel is certain)?
3b) What don’t we know but can learn? How, who and by when – within the time we have to develop
the strategic plan or not?
3c) What can’t we know and how might that affect us?
Leading in a Blizzard: Managing Your Strategic Planning Process
Workshop Handout
May 9, 2012
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4. Planning for Uncertainty
4a) Develop possible scenarios, which are plausible future realities – we don’t have to like these, just
believe there is a possibility they may come to fruition. Not more than 3-4 general trajectories.
4b) Assess the potential implications – what might each of the scenarios mean for us?
4c) Define the early warning signals – what will help us understand as early as possible that one of the
scenarios (or some entirely new scenario) is becoming reality?
Leading in a Blizzard: Managing Your Strategic Planning Process
Workshop Handout
May 9, 2012
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5. Building our Capacity to Adapt
Change is the constant – Adaptation is the key
5a) What helps and hinders our ability to adapt?
Strengths
Weaknesses
Opportunities
Threats
Leading in a Blizzard: Managing Your Strategic Planning Process
Workshop Handout
May 9, 2012
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6. Finding Direction through Community Engagement
The community is the expert on its own needs
6a) Which community members does my library…
… serve well
… not serve well
… not serve at all?
6b) What barriers to these community members face to accessing library services?
Leading in a Blizzard: Managing Your Strategic Planning Process
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6c) What techniques can I use to discover my community?
6d) Where will I start? Which groups or demographic will I connect with first? Where will I visit?
6e) What skills do I need to develop in myself? In my staff or volunteers? What skills do we already
have?
Leading in a Blizzard: Managing Your Strategic Planning Process
Workshop Handout
May 9, 2012
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C. Building a Work Plan
•
Who is my core team – who will help with the “heavy lifting”?
• Need both internal and external perspectives.
• Need to clarify roles and responsibilities – and time commitment.
• Are any key perspectives missing? If so, how else can we access their insights?
•
What is our starting point?
• An existing strategic plan? Existing policies or protocols?
• Do they need tweaking, re-packaging or a major update?
• What level of effort is going to be required? What timeframe? What resources?
•
What are our key questions/uncertainties that we need to address?
• Who can help us define these? Who understands and supports us? Who challenges us?
Leading in a Blizzard: Managing Your Strategic Planning Process
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May 9, 2012
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•
What are our priority research needs?
• What readily available information sources do we have?
• Do we have/can we find the resources to dig deeper?
• Who will do this work, by when?
•
Who are the audiences we need to engage?
• To help develop the scenarios, understand our options and the trade-offs?
• To respond to our proposed direction?
• Who are the community opinion leaders that are crucial to involve early on? Who are
the people in key roles that are crucial to involve early on? Are these the same people or
different?
• What organizations and networks of organizations will be important to work with? Are
they cohesive so you can work with them as a group?
•
How do we need to work with them?
• Will they come to us? For example, will they engage if we call a meeting or if we post a
survey on our website?
• Do we need to go to them? For example, do we need to attend one of their regularly
scheduled meetings or seek a link to our survey on their website or in their regular email
update to their members?
• Should we approach them directly (e.g. about scenarios, goals, objectives, strategies) or
indirectly (e.g. seek feedback as they leave a story time event and then we interpret
what that input means for our strategic plan)?
Leading in a Blizzard: Managing Your Strategic Planning Process
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May 9, 2012
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