How long should my strategy last?
Given the pace of change, it is not surprising that a question we are often asked is “how long should my strategy last?”. As I write this in 2025, the sheer volume of change in the past five years feels extraordinary.
After all, in spring 2020 the pandemic was just getting going, we knew nothing of the Downing Street parties and Jeremy Corbyn was leader of the opposition, Trump was entering the last year of his first term of office and, as for ChatGPT, it would take another two years to materialise the first version launching in 2022 in the same year as the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
So, if we anticipate a similar pace of change in the next five years, does it even make sense to set a 5-year – let alone 10-year – strategy timeline?
Well, the short, and maybe surprising, answer to this is yes – even with this pace of change a 5-year timeline (or 10 years with a review midway) will work for most social change organisations.
But, and here is the issue, to maintain relevance over that period, your strategy needs to be focussed on the long-term direction of travel for your organisation and name what it will take to get there. It needs to be respond to the issues that really affect your operating environment, many of which are much slower burn than the ones mentioned above – ageing populations, climate change, globalisation, shifting boundaries around state provision, rising inequality have been factors shaping the social change environment for decades.
And while you need the details of results, delivery, metrics or milestones these are better captured in a business plan which will need at least an annual refresh and a more regular review if your organisation is experimenting with new ways of working. And if you have a big transformation challenge – digital or a shift in financial model – you will want to capture this in supporting strategies.
That is why increasingly we are working with clients to develop a lasting strategic framework, supported by a set of long-term objectives, with the detail of the business plan being reviewed regularly. In this way, organisations and their leaders can strike the balance between enough structure – in the strategy framework – to give certainty and focus with enough flexibility – in the business plan and supporting strategies – to give you the flexibility to learn and adapt, responding to changing circumstances and new opportunities.
Written by Katherine Rake
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