SWOT Needs A New S-Word

I do strategy for a living.

I help parks, historic sites, museums, zoos, and aquariums chart a better path toward relevance, reach, and revenue. 

I’ve written a lot about one of the basic tools of strategy: the SWOT analysis. Everybody does ‘em and with good reason: they point you in productive directions. (SWOT stands for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats.)

Now here’s what I’ve found, as a veteran of many, many SWOTs. The S word is problematic. Strengths. You always start with that: “Ok folks, what do we do really well?” And you get a litany of platitudes that are, at best, not terribly actionable and at worst just not true. 

WOT is helpful.

Weaknesses are actionable. Threats and opportunities are actionable. You’re lacking in promotions capacity? OK, that’s a weakness. I can help you with that. 

But strengths? OK, you have great scenery. Great. We can capitalize on that, but… you’re probably already doing that. Another strength: “Our staff are first-rate!” Ok but… what can we do with that information (and what on earth do we do when we dig a bit and discover that the staff are, in fact, not performing anywhere near capacity, turnover is too high, and you’re missing key skill areas?)

I realize I sound cynical here. Strengths are good. And yes, I’m all about celebrating what works and recognizing what an organization does well. 

But here’s where I’m going with all this: in my never-ending quest to be the interpretive planner of your dreams, I think I have come up with a better S-word: successes. 

A better S-word

You heard me. Let’s do a Successes, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats analysis. Because listing your successes requires a bit of specificity. A bit of detail. A bit of a reality check. 

So… your staff are first rate? Let’s hear some of your documented successes that have sprung from having first-rate staff. They won awards? Got published? Met a massive, difficult deadline with elan? (How I love that word.) Sweet. Let’s document it and celebrate it. 

And if the people at the planning table can’t easily come up with any examples for staff successes, well, maybe “We have great staff” isn’t such a flex after all.

Likewise “Our board members are outstanding.” (Spoiler: every SWOT everywhere has this somewhere near the top of the list. Because flattery.) What exactly do you mean? What are some successes that your outstanding board has put under their belt in the last year? Hint: meeting once a month and chatting over cookies isn’t a success. It’s the bare minimum. 

Wait, you’re telling me they raised a million dollars during difficult economic times? Achieved a challenging change in the bylaws despite a lot of negativity in the local community? Cool. Very cool. Document that. 

Use your successes to drive change.

And what do you do with these documented successes? You lead with them in your strategic plan. You lead with them when doing change management with your staff and your community. You show them that you’ve done difficult things together and made it through. 

So when you’re introducing a tough new visitor experience strategy or organizational strategic plan, you can pull out those successes, those receipts of your accomplishments, and say, “Hey gang. What we’re looking at achieving over the next three years isn’t going to be easy. But look at what we’ve done together over the last three years. We’ve got this.” 

Successes. Document them. Celebrate them. Build on them.

But be specific about it, ok? 

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