The problem with strategic planning meetings is that often the best ideas happen AFTER the meeting. Kaihan Krippendorff gets that. In his recent post on the Fast Company site, “Why Small Businesses Should Scrap Strategic Planning,” he says small businesses need to focus on strategic thinking not strategic planning. The kind of planning you learn in B-schools and text books takes time and resources and generally is short-lived. It doesn’t support fast-growing companies who need to turn on a dime to keep up with the marketplace.
Strategic thinking on the other hand will keep moving your business ahead; and it needs to be ongoing. It can happen in office hallways, when you run into people at lunch, when you are talking on Skype, at the ‘water cooler’ — anywhere and anytime. When you get inspired and need to collaborate, get your team together even for five minutes. 
With our emphasis on mobility today, you never have to put collaboration on the back burner. If you come up with a great idea when you’re walking your dog, you can get a few colleagues on the phone or video right then and there. Next thing you know, you’re hammering out the strategy for your next new business opportunity.
Read the post and let us know when and where your last great idea took shape.