How to Do Strategic Planning Like a Futurist

There is a balance between focusing too much on either the short term or the long term. The key to me is having two documents. The first—at Stripe, we’re calling them charters—articulates the long-term view of why this team or this product or this company exists, what its overarching strategy is, and what success would look like over even a three-t

it is rarely possible—or even particularly fruitful—to look too far ahead. A plan can usually cover no more than 18 months and still be reasonably clear and specific. So the question in most cases should be, Where and how can I achieve results that will make a difference within the next year and a half ?

Thinking strategically starts with reflection on the deepest nature of an undertaking and on the central challenges it poses. It develops with understanding of focus and timing. Focus means knowing where to place one’s attention. What is truly essential? What is secondary? What cannot be ignored without risking the success of the enterprise?

Understanding events and influencing the future requires mastering of four ways of looking at things: as they were, as they are, as they might become, and as they ought to be.