Imagine it is the final year of your strategic plan. How will you look back at 2018? Did you make the right choices, lead your organization in the right direction?

It starts with your vision: the future you want to work towards. Next is your mission, the role your organization plays in the context of what others are doing on this topic. Have you clearly formulated your added value to the world?

Strategies and programs are the roadmaps and vehicles that help you get there. Effective strategies have SMART goals (specific, measurable, ambitious, realistic and time-bound). Based on a sound Theory of Change. Result chains and logframes can help with strategic analysis: clarifying assumptions, verifying cause-effect relationships.

Miriam van Gool has worked on such strategic questions at WWF, at IFC/World Bank, at standard setting organizations and in the private sector. She understands dilemmas facing investors (divest or engage) and the balancing act of standard setting organizations (scaling without lowering the bar). Is familiar with challenges to palm oil and forestry companies. And has worked in NGOs working in complex landscapes.

Vision and mission form the heart of any organization. Once these are clear, multi-disciplinary team and regular meetings with decision makers are key in developing effective strategies or programs.

All focused on a plan that works.