Do you personally do things in your life without a plan?  I do, and guess what, sometimes it just doesn’t turn out too well.  It is one thing for an individual to have a planning failure, but it is quite another for an organization to fail for lack of planning.

For starters, who is responsible for the overarching plan, the way ahead, for a ministry, corporation, business, or military organization?  Guess what, it is you the “leader” and the organization’s board must make sure that reasonable and realistic planning is accomplished.  Many times, a board of trustees may be the final approving authority for a long-range plan.

We’ve written about an organization’s purpose, vision, and mission.  Those are good starting points for organizational planning.  There is any number of models for planning depending upon the level in an organization the planning takes place; a strategic framework, strategic plans, program management plans, manufacturing plans, product improvement plans.

The military has a very defined planning process. Strategic planning generally begins at the higher echelons, and subordinate units make plans to support that overall strategy.  War plans fall into the categories of strategic planning or campaign planning, that which is theater or even world focused; operational planning, that which focuses on defined areas of operations; and tactical planning, that which is done by units that have direct contact with the enemy to achieve specific results.  You can’t plan without having some view of the higher echelon of planning or you may fail to support the greater strategy and risk “winning the battle and losing the war.” We could paint a similar picture for a church that may have multiple campuses or sub-ministry areas or a business that has several business units or product centers.  In any case, plans must support the purpose of the organization, its vision, and mission and comply with the organization’s core competencies or else there is a great risk of failure in the process.

For a ministry or any organizations that seeks to honor the Lord in their work, I highly recommend the methodology of Officers’ Christian Fellowship’s, Pray, Discover, and Obey (http://www.ocfusa.org/2009/11/step-step-guide-2/).  Pray and seek the Lord’s will for the next major steps of the organization.  Listen, and discover what He has to say to you. And then, Obey, put into action that which you have discovered.  That action begins with a plan, but there is always a qualification when planning for the Lord’s work; be prepared for a 90-degree course correction.  And if you’re in the military, be ready to modify plans once the first shot is fired; remember, “there is always another team on the field.”  And in business, competition never stays the same, the market changes, and many times the rules by which you can play the game change.  Plans are what they are intended for, a means of defining objectives, establishing priorities, and allocating resources.  “Commit to the Lord whatever you do, and your plans will succeed.  (Prov.16:3) Continue to listen.