Strategic planning is all about creating specific strategic (thoughts). The more your people think about the possibilities, the greater likelihood that you will reach farther than you have ever gone before. So what is stopping you?

Maybe you always have had the same people at your strategic planning table. These are good performers who are comfortable with how the company is currently performing. Possibly, they have a belief that "If it ain’t broke, why fix it?" The ability to think outside of the box is not their strength.

Or you may have different people, but they all reaffirm what you believe, think and do. These individuals are the "Yes, boss! You are right boss!"

However today, you look out your corner office window or read the economic trends in your daily business journal. Suddenly, you realize that the company is not growing given the DOW is over 13,000 and has reached historical highs in the first six months of 2007. You now know that you are not where you want to be for your company or even yourself.

You sit down and take out your strategic plan that is somewhat dusty. As you read its fresh pages, you see that you have been doing the same things over and over again and getting the same, safe results. However, you have just finished Blue Ocean Strategy and realize that you are in the red ocean. Now you think:

"To go where we have never gone before (the Blue Ocean) and get what we have never got before (incredible results), we must do what we have never done before (take risks, look for possibilities, opportunities)."

You recognize that your Strategic Planning process is lacking people who think outside of the box. Who are possibility thinkers. These people think in terms of Yes, it can be done! and So what if we fail, we just regroup and try another approach. Possibility thinkers are not afraid of taking risks because they know that success comes from failure. To try is better than to not try at all.

Suddenly, you look at your executive team and your employees with a new lens, a new filter. You are now actively seeking individuals who will challenge the status quo, but who have the leadership skills to work with your existing executive team.

Possibility thinking is the vehicle to drive your strategic plan to that next level of success. And you have now learned that possibility thinking begins within the leadership of each individual, starting with you!