P&G One Page Memo

The Strategic Plan should be simple.  A good model is to use the P&G one page memo as a format to simplify the planning process.  Here’s the format and structure of the one-page memo:

Tom Peters (In Search of Excellence) tell us that the one-page memo tradition goes back to Richard Deupree, past president:

… Deupree strongly disliked any memorandum more than one typewritten page in length. He often would return a long memo with an injunction: “Boil it down to something I can grasp.” If the memo involved a complex situation, he sometimes would add, “I don’t understand complicated problems. I only understand simple ones.” When an interviewer once queried him about this, he explained, “Part of my job is to train people to break down an involved question into a series of simple matters. Then we can all act intelligently.”

Jim Stengel, the former Global Marketing Officer at P&G, said:

 “It boils down to three things. One is not really the one-page memo, but the structure of the one-page memo. I still find today I think that way. I don’t think of any communication without thinking about what I want in the first line, provide some relevant background, and then state your objectives and strategy to achieve them. How you’re going to measure it, and what you want from the reader and anyone else. The second is the level of breadth and depth in training. Some of my most vivid memories of the company are when I was put in difficult situations and tested on that in a positive way. The third is the ability to lead a diverse group of people, sometimes around the world, to a common end. And more specifically in the marketing/advertising world is leading agencies productively and effectively.”

Both Deupree and Stengel use the word “boiling.”  The process of memo-writing becomes a process of eliminating the trivial and distilling the key issues.

The same concepts apply to building a strategic plan.  Instead of having binders with hundreds of pages, why not think simplicity?  How about a file folder in your desk drawer. Think about how much time that would save. What the likelihood of referring a short, well-written 1-2 page memo instead of trying to find information in a thick 3-inch binder on the shelf…with dust on it!

Simplicity also is an important part for develop your strategic plan throughout the strategic planning sessions. With our TopLevelStrategy 3-step process, the unique process takes a couple of days over three months to get it done.  Not months and months of agony, with rescheduled meetings, frustration, and stress.  The meetings are focused, on-agenda, open, participatory, and engaging allowing for quality discussion.  Our meetings don’t drag on.

To learn more, click here to download our Strategic Planning Assessment Tool, call Rob at (513)772-5115, or use our contact form.