Burn the Binder: 4 Steps to a One-Page Strategic Plan

If your strategic plan is longer than a page, it’s not a strategy, it’s a stall tactic.

Somewhere along the way, strategic planning became more about formatting than focus. Teams are spending weeks crafting 50-slide decks and 100-page documents that no one reads and no one uses.

Let’s change that.

At Get Strategy, Done™, we believe your entire strategic plan should fit on one page. Because clarity creates action. And action is the whole point.

How to Turn Strategy Into Action:

Step 1: Burn the 100-Page Document

Seriously. Delete the doc. Toss the binder. Burn it ceremonially if you must.

Strategy is not about saying more, it’s about saying what matters. On one page. If your team can’t point to the plan without clicking 17 times through a SharePoint maze, it’s not going to guide behavior.

Step 2: Ask the Real Questions

Don’t sugarcoat it. Strategy isn’t polite, it’s honest.

What’s not working?
Where are we misaligned?
What’s stealing our time, our focus, our results?

Every great strategic plan begins with a mirror. If the room is too quiet, you’re not being honest enough.

Step 3: Decide What You're Not Doing

Most plans fail because they try to do too much.

Strategic planning isn’t about adding, it’s about choosing. The hardest decisions aren’t about what to pursue, they’re about what to stop.

Your one-page plan should scream clarity. That means saying no more than you say yes.

Step 4: Make it a Living, Breathing Tool

Strategy isn’t a moment, it’s a muscle.

Your plan should be so embedded in your rhythms that everyone knows it, owns it, and acts on it. If it only shows up at your annual offsite, it’s dead.

Post it. Print it. Preach it. And most of all….use it.

Final Thought:

A strategic plan that’s 100 pages long might feel impressive. But a one-page plan your entire team can recite? That’s the strategic plan that gets results.

That’s what gets strategy done.