Strategic planning is crucial for complex organizations like universities and colleges, but inattention to essential stages can lead to many plans not guiding the organization towards its goals. To ensure success, organizations should start with a clear understanding of the motivation for planning, organize the planning effort through formal processes, and maintain focus on the strategic plan's broad goals. Engaging middle management and staff throughout the planning process and incorporating wide input from multiple constituencies can help create a coherent plan aligned with the institution's major goals.