Planning is not an arcane science even though some academics make it that way. It's elements are pretty basic and can be split into two letters -- the "big W" and the "big H."
Diagram on newsprint or an overhead transparency as you talk this through. Begin by asking the audience that the "big W" stands for, then describe the components of What:
What we currently know is base on our past experience, existing information we are aware of, and our values. While this information is very important, it should not stand alone. Good decisions almost always require asking tough questions and digging to find the answers -- what we need to know.
Then comes the real trick to good decision-making -- being able to sift through potential mountains of information and sort out what's really important. It's easy to get bogged down and paralyzed with information overkill. Information is power, and too much power will cause a brownout.
Emphasize several observations about the whats. First, the whats are crucial to planning. Like the Irish proverb says, if you don't know where you're going, any road will take you there. How can a group take action until it knows what it's taking action on? Strategic planning implies that decisions are based on good information, not just hunches and past experience.
Second, people love to talk about what's important but often get stuck in the mud and can't translate the what into action. As a result, many groups continue to hash and rehash the what. Some groups literally get stuck on the what for years. And yet, they can't understand why motivation wanes, attendance drops, and nothing gets done.
This is natural, because the whats are not nearly as elusive or committing as the "big H." (At this point write down a large H on newsprint and ask what the audience thinks it stands for. Hopefully, somebody will venture "HOW.")
Then speak to the big H. Explain that when groups start to talk about how they propose to tackle the what, they often find the answers to be murky. (Refer to the how as the "Mount Everest" of planning.) Not only is the how often elusive, but is also implies a commitment to action -- WHO WILL DO WHAT WHEN! Some of the people who are most inclined to talk about what others should do get real itchy when the group moves on to how . . . their eyes dart toward the exit door. So there's a natural tendency to revisit the what stage. Before long everybody is discouraged and burned out -- after all was said and done, more was said than done.
On to the next section -- Democratic Brainstorming
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