Whenever we start a strategic plan, we ask our clients to define their vision. We start there because a strategic plan is a map and the vision is the place you are trying to get to.

A vision is the future you want to see.
A mission is how you consistently act to move toward that future.
Your values are the rules and beliefs that shape how you do that work.

Your stakeholders are the people that are affected by your work and who affect your work. They make up your eco-system. 

No matter how long you have been doing this work, the discovery phase always leads to the greatest learnings.

A good organizational assessment gives us honest answers to telling us where we are falling short in delivering our mission. These are often not failings on the organization’s part, but may be because of the learnings you gained during your PESTLE analysis.

A goal is not a tactic. When you write your goals, make sure you use outcomes based language and not activities. You’ll want to move from need to desired outcome to the goal. This will make sure you can also measure those outcomes and evaluate your work over the next few years, keeping you on track.