It all comes down to the ability to go up and down the ladder of abstraction, and being able to see both the big picture and the operational implications - Loizos Heracleous in "Strategic Thinking or Strategic Planning," in Long Range Planning 31, pp. 481-487, 1998
Here's a typical strategic planning process from "Strategic Planning with Critical Success Factors and Future Scenarios: An Integrated Strategic Planning Framework," Techncial Report, CMU/SEI-2010-TR-037
The terms in this diagram are...
| Term | Definition |
| Mission | An organization’s mission is its primary business or purpose; it describes what an organization does, for whom, and its benefit. The mission of an organization is not a time-bound objective. |
| Vision | A vision is an ideal that an organization intends to pursue. It links the organization to the future by articulating instantiations of successful execution of the mission. An organization’s vision is a source of inspiration and can be broader than the organization’s capabilities. It might, in fact, describe what can be achieved in a broader environment if the organization and others are successful in achieving their individual missions. |
| Goal | Goals are broad, measurable, aims that support the accomplishment of a mission. |
| Objectives | Objectives are specific, quantifiable, lower-level targets that indicate an accomplishment of a goal. |
| Guiding Principles | Guiding principles are directive statements that articulate the constraints an organization chooses to place upon the way it achieves its goals. Guiding principles embrace core values and are used to shape an organization’s strategy. Guiding principles reflect long-term intentions but are not necessarily permanent. |
| Enablers | Enablers are external conditions or organizational strengths that facilitate an organization’s ability to accomplish its goals or objectives. |
| Barriers | Barriers are external conditions or organizational (internal) weaknesses that hinder an organization’s ability to accomplish a goal or objective. |
| Strategy | A strategy is a derived approach to achieving the mission, goals, and objectives of an organization. It supports the organizational vision, takes into account organizational enablers and barriers, and upholds its guiding principles. |
| Strategic Plan | A strategic plan is a document that results from a strategic planning activity. It elaborates the organizational strategy and documents the elements that influence it. |
| Initiative | An initiative is a specific set of actions that implement a strategy. |
| Actions | Actions are specific steps to achieve a goal or objective. Actions typically have assigned staff and schedule constraints. |
| Performance Measures | Performance measures describe performance targets relevant to each objective. |
