Here’s something you can absolutely plan on: most planning done by medical groups, especially that common variety, the “strategic planning retreat,” is a complete waste of time.
Determining strategy has nothing to do with planning. Planning is a process of projecting from the present, while strategy is the opposite: it’s selecting a desired future from among alternatives, which future is then harnessed to pull you toward it.
Developing strategy only starts at a meeting such as a retreat: that’s simply a step in a complete, larger, ongoing process.
Sure, spending $10,000 or $20,000 to facilitate a “planning retreat” is far less than the investment required to develop a true strategy, but the reality is that it’s $10,000 or $20,000 wasted.
Let’s get strategic.
