Strategy That Works

Most strategic planning meetings feel productive but change nothing because the agenda rewards brainstorming, not decisions—so the week begins and the calendar wins again. In this article, Jef Menguin shares a practical strategic planning meeting agenda built to lock in

I’ve sat through enough SWOT sessions to know the pattern. People fill the boxes. They argue politely. They add more bullets until the font becomes tiny. Someone takes a photo. Everyone leaves with that warm, familiar feeling of, “At least

Run this when your annual planning retreat keeps producing a beautiful deck… and a weak Monday. Use it as a reality check before you book the hotel again: if your plan rewards “more initiatives” instead of hard tradeoffs, it will collapse the moment the quarter gets busy. Replace the binder with choices your team can carry into the week—what you will stop, where you’ll play, and the few bets you’ll protect with a real review rhythm.

Use this when everything feels “priority,” and your team keeps saying yes until execution breaks. The Tradeoff Rule forces one clean move: if you choose this, you stop that—so focus becomes a decision, not a hope, and your strategy survives the week.

Try this when your team keeps polishing the strategic plan, but Monday still feels the same—same priorities, same urgent noise, same “let’s add one more initiative.” A plan organizes work, but strategy changes decisions, especially the hard ones: what you choose and what you stop. Walk into your next discussion with this line: “Before we add another project, what are we choosing—and what are we stopping?” If the room can’t answer, you don’t have strategy yet—you have paperwork.

If your strategic planning basics end with a long initiative list, you’ll get busy teams and weak focus—because nobody chose what to stop. In this article, Jef Menguin breaks strategic planning into clear choices (what winning is, where to play, how to win, what to stop) so execution doesn’t drift. Use it, then pass it around at work so your plan becomes a weekly filter your team actually follows.

Most government strategic plans in the Philippines are long, detailed, and unread. This article shows why—and offers a simpler way forward using the 6M Framework, so agencies can create strategic plans that comply, engage people, and serve as real playbooks for winning.

Weak mission statements create slow, expensive confusion—people stay busy, but alignment leaks and strategy dies in daily decisions. In this article, Jef Menguin explains the mission as the “compass” of the plan, so your organization doesn’t get lost even with a nice roadmap. Practice this and pass it around at work so your team can say no faster and move in one direction.

Discover why corporate culture decides if your strategic plan succeeds or fails. Learn how Filipino leaders can align culture with goals for real results.