Welcome to Week 3 of our 7-week series on the “7 Deadly Sins of Strategic Planning.” This week, we’re taking a look at Gluttony in strategic planning. Just like an overindulgent meal, too many plans can leave you feeling bloated and slow-moving. At Crane + Grey we’re ready to help you trim the fat and create a lean, agile strategy that’s focused on action.

Week 3: Gluttony – Plans on Plans 📚

Strategic gluttons fill your plans with to-dos that result in… well… more plans. I guess when you’re a hammer, everything looks like a nail, but this approach only leads to an endless cascade of planning with little progress. It’s time to break free from this cycle and take decisive action!

Problem

Gluttony manifests in strategic planning as an insatiable appetite for creating more plans, resulting in a never-ending cycle that delays actual action. It’s like reading every diet book without ever starting the diet.📚

Example

We’ve all seen it. Strategic Priority 2, subpoint A: “Create a plan to better utilize the board.” Or Strategic Objective 12: “Develop a strategic roadmap for stakeholder engagement.” However you slice it… it’s a plan to make a plan. It hinders progress in the name of looking organized, while the original goal remains elusive. Meanwhile, your team is drowning in paperwork and wishing they had a life raft.

Solution

At Crane + Grey, we help organizations shed the excess weight of Gluttony by designing strategies that cut through the layers of planning, enabling you to focus on immediate action. We help put in place an infrastructure that makes every strategy actionable from the bottom-up. It’s a method that’ll satisfy your organization’s needs without overloading your plate.🍽️