Over the past 30 years Work Systems Affiliates has helped organizations in nearly every industry formulate effective strategies to get them to their desired future state. Often the process starts with a quick look back to see where and why past efforts may have failed.

In working with these organizations, we have found seven common traps that organizations fall into when creating strategic plans.

Strategic Trap Number 1: Organizations fail to recognize and understand events and changing conditions in the competitive environment.

Strategic Trap Number 2: Organizations base strategies on a flawed set of assumptions.

Strategic Trap Number 3: Organizations pursue a one-dimensional strategy that fails to create or sustain a long-term competitive advantage.

Strategic Trap Number 4: Organizations diversify for all the wrong reasons.

Strategic Trap Number 5: Organizations fail to structure and implement mechanisms that ensure the coordination and integration of core processes and key functions across organizational boundaries.

Strategic Trap Number 6: Organizations set arbitrary and inflexible goals and implement a system of controls that fail to achieve a balance among culture, rewards and boundaries.

Strategic Trap Number 7: Organizations fail to provide the leadership essential to the successful implementation of strategic change.

If you are in the process of strategic planning or organizational change, keep these common traps in mind and you will be much more likely to reach your goals and realize your strategic vision.

(Adapted from “Mission Critical” by Joseph C. Picken and Gregory G. Dess, 1996, Inc. Magazine, November 1996)