A Strategic Plan for the US … Why isn’t there one?
Every business in the world has a strategic plan. Every business has a vision of where it wants to be in 5 to 10 years. Every business knows who its target market is, what the needs of this target market are, what it wants to provide this market in terms of products and services to satisfy these needs, and how it is going to make money (profits).
No publicly traded company (one who issues common stock) would be allowed to operate without a strategic plan. The plan is typically generated by senior executive management, approved by the board of directors (boards), and then operational (tactical) plans are put in place to accomplish the objectives of the strategic plan.
Boards can then use the plan as both a road map for approving each and every aspect of company spending and investment, as well as grade the executive management team on its performance.
Most small companies also have strategic plans. I own a small business and we do.
Why then do we allow our government to operate solely on an annual budget?
THERE IS NO STRATEGIC PLAN FOR THE US GOVERNMENT!
This thought hit me one day as I was thinking about the gridlock we often see in our Federal and State governments. Nothing of any merit really gets accomplished. If it does, it’s a rarity. Very rare.
The problem we have today is government gets hung up on issues … they spend their time arguing about tactics for political gain rather than work to accomplish any objective other than getting reelected. Just look at the “Nuclear Option” insanity, stalled Campaign Finance Reform, the posturing and positioning over the Iraq war. It’s not hard to identify the problem. There is no common direction, no road map from where we are to where we want to be, no guidelines for decision-making.
Why aren’t we demanding a fix?
Imagine if you will a government that sets strategic objectives, with concrete goals, for the most important aspects of our lives. This would include things like health, education, safety, defense, environment, social services, trade, foreign relations, finance, just to name a few.
Imagine if you will a government that set quantified goals to be reached for these areas. For example:
* To be debt free (no National debt) within 20 years.
* To always operate with a balanced budget (no budget deficits) within 5 years.
* To have a fully-funded social security system within 10 years.
* To improve life expectancy by 1 year every 10 years.
* To reduce greenhouse gases by .5% a year.
You get the picture. These are just examples.
This plan would be generated by a combination of representatives from the 3 branches of government. Maybe by also forming a “great minds” group outside of government to inject new ideas. It would be easy to read, easy to understand, and easy to measure every decision taken against such a plan. It would be no more than 100 pages, all inclusive, with no fine print.
The plan would be updated annually as progress is made, new obstacles are encountered, new important matters arise, or old matters become irrelevant.
State governments could build their strategic plans to do their part to help the Federal government accomplish these goals, and to help themselves accomplish their own regionalized goals.
Maybe we’d once again return to a time when our representatives in government feel it’s an honor to serve their constituencies, work for the good of all American people, abolish pandering to special interests, and get America back on track.
This, of course, takes leadership, negotiation, compromise, and a sincere willingness to work together for the common good. Fat chance many of today’s elected representatives would volunteer to get on board what I’ll officially name:
“The US Federal Government Strategic Plan Initiative”
I’m very interested in your comments on this idea. I would propose that if your elected representatives are not amenable to such a radical change in the way government works you do your best to vote in someone who does … as quickly as possible.
This is a topic that deserves more attention in the future.
No publicly traded company (one who issues common stock) would be allowed to operate without a strategic plan. The plan is typically generated by senior executive management, approved by the board of directors (boards), and then operational (tactical) plans are put in place to accomplish the objectives of the strategic plan.
Boards can then use the plan as both a road map for approving each and every aspect of company spending and investment, as well as grade the executive management team on its performance.
Most small companies also have strategic plans. I own a small business and we do.
Why then do we allow our government to operate solely on an annual budget?
THERE IS NO STRATEGIC PLAN FOR THE US GOVERNMENT!
This thought hit me one day as I was thinking about the gridlock we often see in our Federal and State governments. Nothing of any merit really gets accomplished. If it does, it’s a rarity. Very rare.
The problem we have today is government gets hung up on issues … they spend their time arguing about tactics for political gain rather than work to accomplish any objective other than getting reelected. Just look at the “Nuclear Option” insanity, stalled Campaign Finance Reform, the posturing and positioning over the Iraq war. It’s not hard to identify the problem. There is no common direction, no road map from where we are to where we want to be, no guidelines for decision-making.
Why aren’t we demanding a fix?
Imagine if you will a government that sets strategic objectives, with concrete goals, for the most important aspects of our lives. This would include things like health, education, safety, defense, environment, social services, trade, foreign relations, finance, just to name a few.
Imagine if you will a government that set quantified goals to be reached for these areas. For example:
* To be debt free (no National debt) within 20 years.
* To always operate with a balanced budget (no budget deficits) within 5 years.
* To have a fully-funded social security system within 10 years.
* To improve life expectancy by 1 year every 10 years.
* To reduce greenhouse gases by .5% a year.
You get the picture. These are just examples.
This plan would be generated by a combination of representatives from the 3 branches of government. Maybe by also forming a “great minds” group outside of government to inject new ideas. It would be easy to read, easy to understand, and easy to measure every decision taken against such a plan. It would be no more than 100 pages, all inclusive, with no fine print.
The plan would be updated annually as progress is made, new obstacles are encountered, new important matters arise, or old matters become irrelevant.
State governments could build their strategic plans to do their part to help the Federal government accomplish these goals, and to help themselves accomplish their own regionalized goals.
Maybe we’d once again return to a time when our representatives in government feel it’s an honor to serve their constituencies, work for the good of all American people, abolish pandering to special interests, and get America back on track.
This, of course, takes leadership, negotiation, compromise, and a sincere willingness to work together for the common good. Fat chance many of today’s elected representatives would volunteer to get on board what I’ll officially name:
“The US Federal Government Strategic Plan Initiative”
I’m very interested in your comments on this idea. I would propose that if your elected representatives are not amenable to such a radical change in the way government works you do your best to vote in someone who does … as quickly as possible.
This is a topic that deserves more attention in the future.
posted by Mark Pukita at 2:20 AM
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