Some people think strategic documentation is "too academic." "Not revenue-driving." "A waste of time."
Yes, these are actual protests I've heard.
But these are often the same people who are confused when things fall apart:
"Why weren't we on the same page? I thought we were aligned."
"I don't understand why the plan didn't work. Where did we go wrong?"
"I don't know what happened, but we just have to move on and figure out our next steps quickly."
These are all warning signs. And unfortunately, they're also very common.
If you take the time to document your strategies, you will reap the benefits at every stage of your work. You will add exponential value to the business. You will be the glue that holds your company together.
(Okay, that last one was a little dramatic, but you have to shoot for the stars, right?)
Let's address it.
Break the Stigma
First of all, to combat the protests, I don't think anything can be "too" academic. If it's academic, it's rooted in truth and backed by science or literature, which means it's probably educational and insightful and well-rounded and the result of years of studies and data-gathering and analysis and iterations and conclusions. There are worse ways to spend your time (and your business dollars). I wish more things were academic.
Second, documentation is, in fact, revenue-driving. It might not be a primary revenue driver, and the path may not be linear, but when you document your strategies, you can act more effectively and more efficiently. Your team will be able to execute more strategically, they will collaborate more openly, and they will spend less time on logistics and more time either on creativity or on action. Documentation supports an agile environment where communication and strategic alignment are valued. How else can you drive revenue if your teams aren't communicating effectively, working efficiently, or producing strategically aligned work?
How else can you drive revenue if your teams aren't communicating effectively, working efficiently, or producing strategically aligned work?
And third, documentation is not a waste of time. It helps people think more clearly. When you write your to do list for the day, you remember what you've written down and can sometimes pivot from task to task without needing to refer back to it. Now, I know we all love to cross things off our lists, which is a rewarding feeling that gives us a rush of dopamine. But I bet after you write your to do list, you are more focused and intentional as you move through your work during the day.
Write Your Way Out
Offloading your thoughts into a document removes the pressure of having to remember them. Some people, like Tiago Forte, have called this your "second brain." If you document your thoughts, you can get them out of your mind and then use the space in your mind to process those ideas, to be more objective in your decision-making, to think more creatively or critically or whatever you need to spend more time and energy on, as opposed to ruminating over what needs to get done.
The act of writing your thoughts and plans and strategies allows you to make sense of them in a different way than you do when they remain stuck in your head. This is why people love to make pros and cons lists, and why journaling is so powerful. When we let ideas marinate in our mind, they are abstract. They float around, maybe clinging to some thoughts, or maybe vanishing to make room for more urgent tasks. They are subject to judgment and distortion. They aren't placed in any sort of order (i.e. of priority or due date), and they usually aren't fully formed, so you may not feel ready to act on them quite yet.
But when you write them down, they become concrete. You can move them around. You can put them in order. You can take a break and then come back to them. You can even look at them as though someone else wrote them, and you can be more objective in your analysis.
Plus, writing is the way we make sense of the world around us. When we write things down, we aren't just logging what is. We are processing it. We are evolving it. We are connecting concepts and finding out how they work together. We are activating more parts of our brain. When we write, we are associating and learning and questioning and analyzing and ordering and filling in gaps and completing the picture. We are working our way through, to the other side--to a new place that doesn't even exist yet but will be better than where we are now because of the work we're doing to get there.
And that's why strategies and processes need to be documented.
A corporate culture where strategies and processes are documented is one in which employees participate in information sharing, collaboration, and strategic alignment.
What You Can Do Now
Evaluate the widespread understanding and application of strategy. Can you articulate your company's strategy? Your department's strategy? Other teams' strategies? If not, documentation is an opportunity to improve the understanding and application of strategy across teams, so you and your teammates can produce more aligned outcomes.
And if you think you can articulate a strategy, but someone else would use very different language, that's another opportunity to explore whether you are simply applying the same strategy differently or if you have completely different understandings that do not roll up into the same overarching strategy. Documentation can help mitigate any confusion and instead can ensure everyone is on the same page.
Assess what's documented and what's not. Ask: Why haven't things been documented? Do higher-ups think documenting strategy is a waste of time? You can either convince them of its importance, or you can build its creation into your bandwidth. Use it as a way to grow your understanding of the company's and department's strategies, to collaborate across teams, and to identify gaps you could fill that could improve efficiencies across the company. Documenting strategy will never be a waste of time.
Involve others in the process. Documenting strategy isn't a one person job nor is it a one time thing. You may start the document, but then share it with either your boss or your colleague or a project team member to get their thoughts. Ask for their perspective. What doesn't this document address? How could we make this stronger together? What additional angles should we add? What's important to include vs. exclude? Who needs to be involved in the creation process? Who simply needs to be informed? (A RACI matrix could help here!) Then, establish a process of maintaining the document, referring to the document, and updating the document. A strategy document is a collaborative, evolving, living, breathing thing. Treat it with respect!
What can you do today to implement strategy documentation practices on your team? What benefits can you reap when done properly? What support do you need, and which stakeholders do you need to work with?
Even thinking about strategy in this way gives you a leg up. Keep going!
