What happens at a Strategic Doing workshop

A Strategic Doing workshop is a session in which a group takes on a question about their community or organization’s future, and uses the 4 Questions (see below) to explore, identify opportunities, and begin to take action on the most promising of those opportunities. Here’s some things you’ll notice at a workshop:

  • It’s interactive: in Strategic Doing, no one will tell you what your strategy should be. The process will lead you to sort that out for yourselves. There will be a short overview of the process at the beginning, but you’ll quickly move right into discussion in small groups around tables.
  • There are no observers: everyone in the room participates, even the facilitators (which we call “table guides”).
  • It’s realistic: instead of dreaming about what would be possible if you had a big grant, more staff, or a new facility, the conversation will be centered on what you already have at your disposal. We call this approach asset-based.
  • It’s focused on action: there’s a reason we call it Strategic Doing. You’ll walk out the door at the end of the workshop with an assignment. The commitment will be small – usually around an hour over the next 30 days – but when everyone is making a commitment you’ll be amazed at how much you can get done.
  • It’s fun: when did you last have a great time at a planning meeting? Participants at Strategic Doing gatherings consistently tell us it was enjoyable – both because of the approach and because of the sense of accomplishment you’ll have at the end, knowing that you made tangible progress in just a few hours.

The Strategic Plan motto (4 Questions):

  • What could we do?
  • What should we do?
  • What will we do?
  • What’s our 30/30 (What did we do over the last 30 days and what will be do in the next 30 days?

The workshop process ensures that you won’t get “stuck” – you’ll have a strategic action plan at the end to guide your future work, and you’ll have already started on implementation together.

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