Strategic Planning Key Terminology

The individual responsible for the achievement and progress of a deliverable. Deliverables can be Objectives, Key Results (KR), Initiatives, or Key Performance Indicators (KPI). They check in weekly, update health and metrics, and ensure successful outcomes without necessarily doing all the work themselves.

Co-Founder & CTO of StratSimple

The process of ensuring that team goals are consistent with and contribute to the overall strategy of the organization. This fosters collaboration, enhances efficiency, and drives collective success.

A strategic planning and management tool that helps organizations translate their vision and strategy into actionable objectives across four perspectives: financial, customer, internal processes, and learning and growth.

Big Hairy Audacious Goal: A long-term, ambitious goal that serves as a powerful motivator and unifying vision for an organization. It is designed to inspire and drive significant progress.

A goal-setting approach that ensures alignment and collaboration by incorporating both top-down and bottom-up inputs in the creation and adjustment of Objectives and Key Results (OKRs).

A strategic approach that focuses on creating new, uncontested market spaces rather than competing in existing ones. It aims to render the competition irrelevant by innovating and offering unique value.

The structured schedule of activities in strategic planning, including annual planning, quarterly goals, monthly reviews, and weekly check-ins, to ensure continuous progress, alignment, and accountability.

The process of breaking down high-level organizational goals into specific, actionable objectives for different departments, teams, and individuals, ensuring alignment and coherence throughout the organization.

An individual within an organization who actively promotes, supports, and drives the successful adoption and implementation of OKRs, ensuring alignment, accountability, and enthusiasm across the team.

A structured approach to transitioning individuals, teams, and organizations from a current state to a desired future state, focusing on adopting new approaches like OKRs and changing organizational direction with a new strategy.

Regular OKR updates where the accountable owner reports on their deliverable through their OKR platform (like StratSimple), including metric progress and a health/risk assessment of the goal.

A Key Result designed to mitigate the risks of over-focusing on an objective, ensuring balanced progress and preventing negative unintended consequences.

A centralized visual tool that displays both KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) and OKRs (Objectives and Key Results), providing a comprehensive view of an organization’s performance and strategic progress.

A detailed plan focused on promoting Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Justice within an organization. It outlines goals, actions, and measures to create a fair and inclusive environment. It complements, rather than replaces, a traditional strategic plan.

The process of granting team members the authority and autonomy to determine how to achieve agreed-upon objectives and key results (OKRs), fostering creativity, ownership, and accountability.

An individual, either a consultant or an internal team member, who guides the strategic planning process, identifies key questions, facilitates workshops, and helps the organization achieve its goals.

A high-level term referring to any target or desired outcome an organization aims to achieve, including Objectives, Key Results (KRs), Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), and Initiatives.

In the context of strategic planning and performance management, the term goal Health refers to a subjective assessment of whether an organization is on track or off track to achieve a specific goal. This assessment provides a quick "gut check" that helps spot potential issues early.

A specific project or action undertaken to achieve a particular objective or key result. Initiatives are the practical steps that drive progress and execution in strategic planning.

An objective shared by multiple teams, where each team has specific key results that contribute to achieving the common goal, fostering collaboration and alignment across departments.

A specific, measurable outcome that indicates progress toward achieving an objective within the OKR framework. A form of SMART goal, Key Results provide quantifiable measures of success.

Key Performance Indicator - A specific type of goal that measures the health and performance of an organization or process over time. KPIs provide ongoing insights into how effectively key metrics are performing.

A measurable metric, often that reflects the outcome of past actions and performance. Lagging indicators provide insight into the effectiveness of strategies and decisions over a defined period.

A measurable metric that predicts future performance and progress towards achieving an objective. Leading Key Results provide early indicators of success, guiding proactive adjustments and efforts.

A systematic visual representation that outlines the planned activities, resources, outputs, outcomes, and impacts of a program or initiative. Logic models are used to plan, implement, evaluate, and communicate the effectiveness of projects.

A quantifiable metric used to assess progress, performance, or impact in relation to a specific goal or objective. Measures provide the data needed to evaluate success and guide decision-making.

A book by John Doerr that outlines the OKR (Objectives and Key Results) framework, providing practical guidance on how to set and achieve ambitious goals through clear objectives and measurable key results.

A specific, quantifiable measure used to track performance or progress towards a goal or objective. Metrics provide the data necessary to evaluate success and guide decision-making.

Co-Founder & CEO of StratSimple

A concise declaration of an organization's core purpose and focus, outlining why it exists and what it aims to achieve. Mission statements guide strategic planning and decision-making.

A clear, long-term goal that serves as the guiding direction for an organization, similar to a BHAG (Big Hairy Audacious Goal). This objective aligns all efforts and initiatives towards a singular, inspiring vision of success, deriving its name from the concept of using the North Star for navigation.

The O in OKR, an Objective is a clear, high-level goal that defines what an organization or individual aims to achieve. Objectives are meant to be inspirational and provide direction and purpose, aligning efforts with strategic priorities.

Objectives and Key Results - A goal-setting framework used by StratSimple, and many other organizations to define and track objectives and their outcomes. OKRs help align efforts, promote transparency, and drive progress towards measurable goals.

A concise, single-page document that outlines an organization's strategic vision, goals, and key initiatives. It provides a clear and accessible summary of the strategic plan, aligning team efforts and facilitating communication.

The specific, measurable results or changes that occur as a result of an organization's activities and initiatives. Outcomes indicate the effectiveness of a program or strategy in achieving its goals and are essential for strategic planning.

A tool used to analyze the external factors that can impact an organization. PESTLE stands for Political, Economic, Social, Technological, Legal, and Environmental factors.

A framework for analyzing the competitive forces within an industry. It helps organizations understand the strengths and weaknesses of their market position.

A meeting held at the end of an OKR planning cycle to review what went well, what didn't, and how to improve. It helps teams learn from their experiences and improve future performance.

The practice of deliberately underestimating one's abilities or performance to exceed expectations later. In business, it can involve setting lower targets or goals to ensure they are easily met or surpassed.

Goals that are Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound. This framework helps ensure goals are clear and attainable.

A strategic planning tool that focuses on Strengths, Opportunities, Aspirations, and Results. It helps organizations build on their strengths and envision a positive future.

The core areas of focus that support an organization's strategy and guide its actions to achieve long-term goals. These may be multi-year goals that provide a foundation for decision-making and resource allocation.

It's why StratSimple exists! Strategic planning is a systematic process used by organizations to define their long-term goals, strategies, and actions. It provides a roadmap for achieving these goals and aligning resources effectively.

Strategic Planning Automation Platform

An ambitious target set beyond the standard objectives to challenge and push an organization or team to achieve more. In the context of OKRs, stretch goals are designed to inspire innovation and drive exceptional performance.

A strategic planning tool that examines an organization's Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats. It provides a comprehensive view of internal and external factors that impact performance and decision-making.

A specific value or level that an organization aims to achieve for a particular measure or metric. Targets help in tracking progress and assessing the success of strategies and initiatives.

In the context of OKRs, it means openly sharing goals, progress, and results with everyone in the organization. This fosters trust, accountability, and collaboration.

A declaration that outlines an organization's core beliefs and guiding principles. It reflects the ethical standards and cultural priorities that drive decision-making and behavior within the organization.

A declaration that outlines an organization's long-term aspirations and desired future state. It provides direction and inspiration, guiding strategic planning and decision-making.

A tool used to assess an organization's internal resources and capabilities to determine their potential for sustainable competitive advantage. VRIO stands for Value, Rarity, Imitability, and Organization.