Today I am going to introduce you to the unholy coupling of business consulting and relationship advice that is Strategic Planning for Couples. Late last year, my partner and I started talking more seriously about our future together, and I had a brilliant idea:. Very few have a framework for how to turn that into reality. In my work I speak with a lot of business people and a surprising number of them do a similar planning process, or have expressed great interest in doing something similar in their relationship.
In fact, the topic was in such high demand, that I gave a talk about it at a recent business conference. By the end of this, you will know how to strategically plan with your significant other, and as a bonus, you will also know how to strategically plan for your business as well. It took us a while to begin the process of formally planning because we are both business people and workaholics. And as you know, business people tend to prioritise work over everything else, including their relationships.
We had picked out a scenic, remote mountain cabin, hoping to be inspired by the nature around us as we talked about the future, goals, and KPIs. And so within about two hours of our arrival, ourselves, our cabin and our clothes and belongings, all smelled like smoke. So we decided to cut the stay short, called our driver back and headed back to the Nimman area of Chiang Mai city the next morning. We then spent the next few days at the Maya CAMP co-working space , and used a whiteboard and our laptops to produce this document:.
We wanted to pick somewhere nice, but practical, and settled on a resort at Sun Moon Lake in Taiwan. The entire process takes three days. This is plenty of time to complete your strategic planning in. If pressed for time, you could fit it into 2. I recommend beginning to discuss the planning, agenda and topics as you begin your trip — this will kickstart your creativity and planning faculties for the session.
Day 3 is where you complete anything left over, and share any afterthoughts together. The strategic planning session should kick off with a dinner for yourself and your partner, discussing your top 3 issues and themes. The top 3 issues are ideas you have independently prepared and thought about before the session, and want to discuss with each other. Themes are best thought of as philosophical seasons.
