Strategic Planning: Your North Star in an Ever-Changing Market

“Uncertainty.” “Unprecedented.” “Unpredictable.” For the last five years, it seems we can’t go a day without hearing them. And the environment they describe is having a significant impact on businesses. 

A recent BCG Henderson Institute analysis showed that “differences in profitability among companies increasingly come down to factors that are outside of their direct control.” In fact, between the tumultuous 2020–2024 years, 43% of profitability variance could be attributed to factors such as geopolitics, politics, and technology. 

Navigating this new reality, never mind ensuring growth along the way, is challenging. Here are three ways your strategic plan can help. 

Strategic planning isn’t a navel-gazing exercise. A strong strategic plan encompasses both your organization’s vision and goals and the external environment you’re operating in. The latter can include anticipated innovations, supply chain issues, regulatory changes, and other forces beyond your control that could help or hinder your business. 

While you can’t predict the future, a strategic plan will better position your business to respond to whatever the future brings. The process of strategic planning lays a strong, broad foundation that helps you stick to your growth plans, regardless of what the market throws at you. 

At Incite, we use a framework called LEAP to give our clients that big picture. “We know our clients value the LEAP model because it’s simple but effective,” says Incite Founder and President Ted Kouri. “Through LEAP, they can understand their current realities, explore future possibilities, and determine how they will realize them.”  

When market disruptions happen, it can be tempting to make knee-jerk decisions. But decisions made in the heat of the moment address just that: a moment.  

A strategic plan is your North Star, a roadmap developed with the long term in mind. Do the decisions you’re contemplating still support your strategic priorities? If not, you’re at risk of derailing your progress. Returning to your strategic plan can prevent reactive decisions that may steer you off course.