Strategy Survival Guide

Strategy Survival Guide Version 2.1
Prime Minister’s Strategy Unit
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Strategy Development > Strategic Direction Setting > Tasks
Developing guiding principles
Strategy work aims to shape government’s long term direction and approach. Rather than just being a
collection of good proposals, strategies should establish underlying principles that provide a coherent
reference point for future decision making. These guiding principles should form the foundation for
government action, and provide a consistent basis for the ongoing development of policies capable of
delivering strategic objectives in a changing world.
Establishing a set of guiding principles is the pivotal point in the strategy development process between
reviewing the world as it exists today, and starting to define the desired state of the future. There are a
number of key considerations:
• Rationale for Government Intervention
An evaluation of the rationale for government intervention is central to clarifying the nature of the
problem in hand, and the role that government can play in addressing it. Exploring the root causes of
the problem will help to highlight why government action may be needed, allowing the benefits of
intervention to be weighed against its potential costs and the distortions it may cause.
• Existing Government Values and Principles
It is important to identify and understand the values and principles already established and held by
government. For example, the Principles of Public Service Reform are a set of guiding principles
that any additional strategic thinking must either adhere to or explicitly challenge. Other existing
principles may be explicitly or implicitly recorded in manifestos, Spending Reviews, Budgets and
White Papers. In addition to centrally defined principles, relevant department-specific values and
principles should also be sought out and evaluated to assess their bearing on future strategic
direction.
• Public and Political Will
The guiding principles should establish common ground with the wider public and political arena.
Effective stakeholder engagement and participation throughout the strategy development process
is central to gauging opinion accurately.
Useful links:
> rationale for government intervention
> Principles of Public Service Reform
> effectively engaging with stakeholders
Strategy Survival Guide – Strategy Development
Page 30