Wouldn’t you want a chocolate bunny bank or credit union strategic plan? After all, chocolate bunnies are typically gigantic and delicious. They wear massive chocolate grins, have chocolate ears that reach to the clouds, yell “eat me” at you from store shelves and…sorry, it’s easy to get hung up on all the chocolate.
And that’s the point. The chocolate shell is so appealing you forget these bunnies are hollow inside. Take one bite and the façade crumbles apart. Is that your strategic plan?
Strategic plans frequently wear a lot of bells and whistles without substance inside. They look impressive, sure, but there’s nothing there when you peek behind the curtain. Let’s dive deeper into this problem and see how to address it.
Leaving the Bunny Uneaten
Think about unwrapping your delicious chocolate bunny and not even taking a bite. You construct an incredible looking strategic plan and then quickly…do nothing with it. This planning no-no may be the worst one of all. It’s just inaction.
Your new plan is automatically hollow because it’s never used. How can you tell if you suffer from this problem?
- You struggle with the same issues every year
- Your strategic initiatives never change over multiple sessions
- You never hear anyone discuss the plan post-session
Quick Tip: The best bank and credit union strategic plan is the one that gets implemented. Regardless of your plan’s flaws, using it is better than not using it. Conduct quarterly reviews to assess the plan and hold people accountable for results.
Don’t Let the Chocolate Shell Distract Your Bank and Credit Union Strategic Plan
A chocolate bunny’s shell is so yummy it’s easy to overlook the hollow insides. And shiny objects are so appealing it’s easy to miss items of long-term importance. Are you doing the most important things first?
Implementing AI throughout your organization sounds nice and may be truly necessary in the future. But if your core is outdated…you may want to handle that first. One Credential initiatives sound cool to explore, but you may want to implement tap-to-pay before shooting for the proverbial payment stars.
Quick tip: You can’t jump from basic addition to advanced calculus. There are plenty of steps in between. Focus on the next strategic step to reach those advanced initiatives down the line. Cohesively integrate trends with a foundation set up to support them.
Beware the Organizational Stomachache
Eating your chocolate bunny in one sitting is a stomach-rending mistake. And attempting to devour a 12-initiative, 100-page bank and credit union strategic plan is a similar mistake. You won’t complete all your goals, leading to a defeatist mentality within the institution. And if so many things are important…nothing is.
Quick tip: Don’t craft a plan oriented towards failure, burnout or both. Your plan must stretch you without breaking you. Choose three-to-five vital initiatives and pour your energy into completing those. Focus is key – what you choose not to do is as important as what you choose to do.
Of course, creating a substantial plan is often hard to do alone. On The Mark Strategies’ strategic planning facilitators are the best in the country at guiding you to have a plan that moves the needle. Don’t have a chocolate bunny plan; book a free consultation today.
