Strategic Planning in Action - How Aprons Show Resolve to Listen Deeply to Your Community

Why Does an Apron Matter?

We get a lot of questions about strategic planning here at The Spark Mill. The most common one is, “What can we expect in our plan?” And the truth is, if we were able to tell you from the beginning, we probably wouldn’t be doing a very good job. We are dedicated to following a process that starts with, “What questions do you want this plan to answer?” and from that, we ask, “What do we need to know?” and, “Who do we need to talk to?” From that point on we are co-creating a process that is completely unique to each client.

Sometimes, through this process, we bring things to the surface that are big and require lots of strategic thinking and planning. Sometimes we discover things that might have a big impact but are much easier fixes. In my experience, it’s generally a good mix of both.

We are right in the middle of working with Studio Two Three on their strategic plan, and through interviews with stakeholders, a charrette, a community survey, and focus groups, we learned a lot. We presented this information at a joint board and staff retreat in September, and immediately the balls started rolling.

Stakeholders shared with us that they had a hard time figuring out who was staff at Studio Two Three, they needed to know who they could go to with questions. The team at Studio Two Three has many gifts, but one of the most impressive is their ability to hear feedback, process it, and adapt to make changes almost immediately. Their solution to this feedback? Customizing aprons for the staff and interns to wear. To take it a step further, they are buying the aprons from HandyMa’am and having them embroidered by Crewel & Unusual, and Mary Fleming from their staff is designing the staff patch. Not only are they addressing the community’s desire to know who works there, they are also hiring local artists to help make it happen. A total win-win.

“Sometimes the biggest challenges aren’t actually that difficult to fix.”

We love this story because it’s yet another example of our clients being incredible! We also love it because it highlights that sometimes the biggest challenges aren’t actually that difficult to fix and through strategic planning with The Spark Mill, you get to tap into the big, the small, and everything in between.

It Won’t Stop with an Apron

Stay tuned for full plans soon, but in the meantime you can check out some of the deeper work Studio Two Three and The Spark Mill are tackling during strategic planning in this recent article published in Style Weekly.