Early in my career, I helped write what I believed was the perfect strategic plan.
It was seventy-two pages long. It had color-coded charts, cascading objectives, and a timeline that stretched three years into the future. The board loved it.
For one shining moment, we felt like we had cracked the code.
… six months later, almost nothing had changed.
As we close out 2025 and head into 2026 with optimism, expectation, and a "plan", I couldn't help recall the lesson I learned from that experience:
We had built a monument, not a map.
Associations, and even consultants, often fall into the same trap. We make the plan more beautiful than usable. But the world does not wait for neat, perfectly aligned documents.
It rewards progress.
The cost of perfection
The more detailed and comprehensive a plan becomes, the harder it is to act on. We tell ourselves that precision reduces risk, but in practice, it delays feedback.
Looking back, I wish I had told my younger self what I tell clients now:
You need a plan you can execute next week.
Execution turns strategy into momentum. And if your strategy is so overwhelming that it sits in alignment for a week, that’s a week of lost momentum you will never get back.
Success comes from short, focused bursts of action.
The strongest associations today plan in 90-day cycles that keep momentum high and make room for quick testing and adjustment. Each cycle has clear ownership, measurable outcomes, and removes friction as it appears.
The new rhythm of planning
Here is what that rhythm looks like in practice:
Shorter horizons → Dream long-term, but plan in quarters. Work in cycles that are short enough to learn from.
Simpler scorecards → Track what can actually be influenced week to week, not just what sounds important.
Faster feedback → Listen to members, review data, and adjust course while you are still in motion.
When organizations work this way, planning stops being an annual exercise and becomes a living system that evolves as everyone takes action.
Why we need to shift now
After years of change, many associations are finally stable again. The problem is, when we’re stable, we’re at risk of slowing down while the environment around us keeps moving faster.
The only way to keep pace with that change is to embrace execution-focused strategies.
We need to direct energy toward what matters most and act on it sooner.
The perfect plan I once built looked impressive, but it did not move anyone forward. And that lesson has shaped everything we do at Sequence.
Our goal is to help associations create strategies that work in the real world, strategies that people can actually live and lead.
Here is a simple place to start:
Look at your current plan.
Circle 1 goal you can fully deliver in the next 90 days.
Focus your energy there.
When that goal is achieved, repeat the cycle.
Small execution wins become long-term transformations.
Have you ever built a plan that looked great but went nowhere?
Reply and tell me one thing you would do differently next time.
- Chris
PS - if you’re interested in the 2026 Association Trends report, you can access it here.