Strategic Planning for Public and Nonprofit Organizations, 5th Edition

CHAPTER ONEWhy Strategic Planning Is More Important Than Ever

If you don't like change, leave it here.

—Sign on the tip jar in a coffee shop

Leaders and managers of governments, public agencies of all sorts, nonprofit organizations, and communities face numerous and difficult challenges. Consider, for example, the dizzying number of trends and events affecting the United States and the rest of the world in the past two decades. What follows is my list (you will have your own):

• Technology has always been a game changer, but the speed and scale of the changes seem to be accelerating. In recent decades, technology has wrought dramatic changes in the workplace, social interactions, information and opinion sharing, politics, financial systems, health care, security systems, global interconnectedness, and so on. There has been a dramatic growth in the use of information technology, social media, e-commerce, and e-government. The nature of work is changing, and careers are being redefined.
• Population flows, including migration, immigration, and refugees, have altered numerous societies and landscapes and affected demographics, workforces, and politics. Large parts of the Middle East have been destabilized, and in its wake, there has been enormous human suffering, redistributions of people, and challenges for the rest of the world. China is in the midst of the largest migration in human history as a result of massive moves from rural areas to cities. The 2016 U.S. presidential ...