This document outlines the agenda and exercises for a strategic planning workshop. The workshop will use a method called Strategic Doing to help participants frame opportunities, identify assets, brainstorm ideas, and make commitments. On the first day, participants will work in breakout groups to develop an appreciative question, identify relevant assets, brainstorm opportunities, and select a top opportunity to focus on. The second day involves defining success and commitments for the opportunity, and planning next steps and follow up meetings. The goal is to help participants focus their efforts, leverage their collective assets, and make actionable plans to make progress on an issue of shared interest.

1. Strategic Planning Workshop
Scott Hutcheson
Purdue University
Sharon Gulick
University of Missouri

2. Strategic Doing

3. Two Questions

4. Ground Rules
 Behave in Ways that Build Trust &
Mutual Respect
 Table Guides will:
 Keep track of time and push people to
focus on the task at hand
 Cut people off who stray too far off field
 Encourage full participation
 Check to make sure the “knowledge
keeper is completing the SD Pack

5. Knowledge Keeper
 A chance to practice one of the
important skills of a network leader
 More than a “note taker,” distilling
the conversation
 Without a completed SD Pack, the
hard work disappears

6. Schedule: Tuesday
 1-2pm-Overview, Table Introduction (pg. 2),
Framing Question & Potential Impact (pg.3)-Main
Room
 2-2:30-Share Framing Questions – Main Room
 2:30-2:45-Refine & Change Tables, if Desired,
Intro to Asset Identification – Main Room
 2:45-Break
 3-3:30-Asset Identification (pg. 4) – Breakouts
 3:30-4-Brainstorm by linking & leveraging assets
 4-5- Define top three opportunities (pg. 5) and
narrow down to one (pg.6) - Breakouts

7. Schedule: Wednesday
 8:30-9am-Share your opportunity – Main Room
 9-9:30 – Flesh out your opportunity (pg. 7) -
Breakouts
 9:30-10:15–Action Steps (pg.8) and ideas for
expanding your network (pg. 9) - Breakouts
 10:15-10:30-Break
 10:30-11- Communications Plan (pg. 11) and
Final Participant List (pg. 12) - Breakouts
 11-11:45 – Poster Preparation & Presentation
Planning (pg. 10) - Breakouts

8. Exercise 1: Who are you, what
brings you to this group? (pg. 2)
 Name and Organization
 Interest Area
 Familiarity with this interest area

9. Framing Appreciative Questions
 Community Change
 Entrepreneurship
 Rural Philanthropy
 Broadband
 Childhood Obesity
 Affordable Care Act
 Affordable Housing
 Immigration
 Youth Development

10. Medora, Indiana
Strategic Doing Case Study
Why can’t we make headway in turning the
abandoned outlet mall into a food
distribution warehouse?

11. Medora, Indiana
Strategic Doing Case Study
What would Medora, Indiana look like if it was a hot
spot for locally-produced foods?

12. Framing Appreciative Questions
 Keep the end-in-mind for the discussion.
 Experiment with the construction and scope to
get a feel for how each can change the
direction of the inquiry.
 Ask yourself, ” Is this a question to which we
do not already know the answer? If we do, it is
not inquiry.
 Run the question by someone to see how well
the question works and where it leads.

13. What Could We Do Together?
Align

14. Exercise 2: Framing
Appreciative Questions (pg. 3)
 Where it says Policy area/Policy
Change Area develop a framing
question form a 30,000 ft perspective
 Potential Impact – what would the
world be different?

15. Identifying Assets
 What assets do we have available to
get this done?
 Your network’s work products,
reputation, access, etc.
 Your organization’s assets
 Your personal assets: networks, skills,
experiences, compassions?

17. Exercise 3: Identifying Assets
(pg. 4)
 Identify the assets represented
around your table that could
contribute toward answering your
appreciative question.

18. Brainstorming
 Combine assets to identify
opportunities
 Try lots of combinations
 Be creative - try the “asset shuffle” or
“sticky note” technique
Asset + Asset + Asset = Opportunity

20. Exercise 4: Brainstorming
(pg. 5)
 Come up with at least 10-12 potential
opportunities based on combining
your assets.
Asset + Asset + Asset = Opportunity

21. Define Your Top Three
Opportunities
 Which three opportunities have the
most energy?
 Which one’s might best move you
toward the future envisioned in your
appreciative question
 The others do not fall off the agenda

23. Exercise 5: Define the Top
Three Opportunities (pg. 6)
 What would this look like in big
picture terms?
 What is the window of opportunity?
 What’s the level of payoff and degree
of dissulty

24. Pick Your Top Opportunity
 Narrow down your top three
opportunity to the one you will move
forward with tomorrow
 Again, the others don’t disappear
from your agenda

25. Selecting an Opportunity

26. Exercise 6: Selecting on
Opportunity (pg. 6)
 Use the Payoff/Complexity Matrix to
select one priority opportunity

27. Medora’s Strategy Evolved

28. What Should We Do Together?
Focus

30. Exercise 7: Defining Success
 Frame your opportunity in a way
others can see it.
 Define how you will know you are
succeeding.

31. What Will We Do Together?
Commit

34. Exercise 6:Make Commitments
 Decide on near-immediate action
steps each person can take to move
things forward.
 What milestones do you need to hit in
the next 30 days?

35. When Will We Get Back
Together?
Learn

36. Plan 30 Days at a Time

38. Exercise 7:Define Your 30/30
 When will you get back together?
 How will you stay in touch?

39. The Results
The Sweet Victory Challenge is now in its 5th year and in 2012
they received over 1,000 entries and now attracts a panel of
celebrity judges. Over 5,000 visitors attended the festival in
2012, a 500% increase over 2011.

40. Thanks!
Scott Hutcheson
hutcheson@purdue.edu
765-479-7704