Dear Bob ... I'm the new CIO for a smallish company (about $50M revenue annually) and just suffered through what I thought was as lame an effort in strategic planning as I could imagine. Here's what happened in a full-day offsite meeting: As our CEO is a believer in SWOT analysis we spent an hour each brainstorming our strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. That was the morning. Yawn. After lunch, we Dear Bob …I’m the new CIO for a smallish company (about $50M revenue annually) and just suffered through what I thought was as lame an effort in strategic planning as I could imagine. Here’s what happened in a full-day offsite meeting:As our CEO is a believer in SWOT analysis we spent an hour each brainstorming our strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. That was the morning. Yawn. After lunch, we spent most of the rest of the day arguing about which of these was really a SWO or T. Finally, the last hour, we had a desultory conversation about what we might do differently.That was it – the next day it was business as usual.I don’t have a lot of background in strategic planning, so I don’t feel comfortable criticizing the process we went through without having a better idea to present as an alternative. Besides, the CEO likes SWOT analysis. Any thoughts on how I might approach him with an alternative?– SufferingDear Suffering … First of all, don’t be too hard on the guy. SWOT analysis is popular for a reason – it’s superior to most of the strategic planning approaches you’re likely to find for a simple, obvious, and often-ignored reason: It pays attention to the strategy your company already has. Most strategic planning methodologies I’ve run across start with a blank sheet of paper, which means they’re find for brand-new ventures but are impractical for going concerns.SWOT analysis as you experienced it (which is how it’s usually practiced) has two problems, both easily cured. The first is that it misses a step; the second is that SWOT is the wrong order of events.The missing step is essential: Before analyzing anything, you have to map out your organization’s business model. I’ve found that the same “swim lane” diagrams beloved of process redesigners work very well. Draw a row for customers, one for distributors if you use a distribution channel, another for the sales force, one for marketing, and so on until you’ve included every major constituency involved in how your business works. The columns are steps in the flowchart that connects customer needs and decision-making to activities you can control or influence to create a profit.Once you have a business model in front of everyone that you all agree describes how the business works, you can proceed with your TOWS analysis (which is the right order of events): Go through the model and identify threats and opportunities to each step in the flowchart to see where the model is likely to break down or build up, whether due to changes in technology, market forces, the economy, or astrological influences.Then, look for the steps you can control or influence and how you should adjust them (which is to say, analyze your strengths and weaknesses) to counteract the threats and opportunities you’ve identified. If you decide you want to suggest this approach to the CEO, the good news is that you don’t need to propose that his approach is bad. All you have to do is suggest one more step to help provide some focus, and a change in sequence.Who knows – he might even thank you instead of booting you out of his office for being so presumptuous.– Bob ——– Technology Industry