Before You Plan 2026, Make Sense of 2025

It’s worth taking stock of what the year actually taught you.

Most leaders I talk with say the same thing about 2025: it was hard.

Funding shifted. Regulations changed. The economy was difficult to read. Donor and customer fatigue set in. Board members got distracted. Staff got stretched. And the problems didn’t get any smaller or simpler.

And yet, in the same breath, most of those leaders go on to share the progress they’ve made – preserving margins despite economic concerns, finding new revenue sources amidst a downturn, and learning how to work differently with new tools. 

As I’ve asked those executives how to explain it – “How did you not only keep your head above water, but actually make some progress despite the stormy seas?” – I’ve heard a consistent theme: “We didn’t just work harder. We got clearer about what really mattered.” 

Nothing about the year was easy, but stressful times can be like exercise for our organizations. The work, while difficult, makes us better. 

And more importantly, stressful times help us focus on what matters most. We don’t have time for the side projects, the unvetted ideas, and the hunches. We don't have to just work harder; we have to get clearer about what really matters.

I’m guessing you have some hard-won wisdom from the last eleven months, too. 

So, before you dive into 2026 planning (before the board retreat, before the budget cycle, before the new goals), it’s worth taking stock of what 2025 actually taught you.

Review, Don’t Rehash

Taking stock isn’t venting. It’s not a blame session or therapy hour. It’s a strategic assessment—looking at what happened with an observer’s mind, not an emotional one.

Review the facts. What worked? What didn’t? What surprised you?

Most planning sessions skip straight to “what’s next” without pausing to understand “what just happened.” The result? You repeat the same patterns, chase the same dead ends, and wonder why nothing changes.

Effective strategic planning starts with honest assessment.

Avoid the twin traps.

When you look back at 2025, it’s easy to fall into one of two extremes:

1. Too harsh: Everything was terrible. We’re failing! Nothing worked. We’re behind everyone else!
2. Too glowing: Wow, tough year, but we did our best! Flat is the new up! 

Neither helps you plan better. Too harsh keeps you stuck in failure mode. Too glowing blinds you to what needs to change. Try to take two steps back to be clear-eyed about both wins and losses, willing to see things as they are, not as you wish they were or fear they might be.

What Actually Worked?

Here’s a truth most organizations miss: progress usually comes from focus, not volume.

Look for the two or three things that actually moved the needle this year. Often, they’re not the things that took the most time or generated the most activity. It might be the program you finally decided to sunset. The donor conversation that led somewhere real because you finally asked for what you needed. The team meeting where everyone actually got on the same page. The board decision that created focus instead of adding more initiatives.

These moments matter because they reveal something about how progress actually happens in your organization. Not through heroic effort or grinding harder—but through clarity, alignment, and deliberate choice.

It’s true, as David Lloyd George wrote, that you "can’t cross a chasm in two small jumps.” But neither do you climb all the way up the mountain in one leap. Mountains are climbed step by step, one decision at a time. Small moves, repeated consistently, create momentum. What were your small moves that actually built something?

What Drained Energy Without Results?

Now look at the other side: What consumed resources without creating impact?

Most organizations carry too much that no longer serves their mission. Not because leaders are unfocused or undisciplined, but because every initiative mattered to someone, because stopping anything feels like failure, and because saying no feels impossible.

Look for the initiatives that sounded good but never gained traction. The reports no one actually reads or uses. The partnerships that require more than they return. The “we’ve always done it” activities that no longer connect to strategy.

Often, these workstreams continue because no one wants to admit they aren’t working. So, don’t view them as failures. They’re data points, information about where to stop investing so you can redirect that energy toward what actually works. Most good ideas and great decisions have a shelf life. It’s okay to say, “This was true when we decided it, but it doesn’t work anymore.”

Step Aside to Step Forward

Slowing down to take stock introduces some accountability and grace in your decision-making. Accountability is the discipline to say, “We evaluate what we implement.” Grace is the willingness to say, “We did our best, but not everything will work the way we want it to.”

Creating the right balance of those two behaviors is the foundation of most high-performing cultures. And if you do it right, it also builds the clarity you need to make better choices going forward.

Strategic planning isn’t just about doing more or doing better. It’s about learning what’s true and acting on it.

So, before you dive into 2026 planning, sit with these three questions:

• Where did we see real momentum—and why? What conditions created forward movement?
• What drained energy without creating impact? What are we carrying that no longer serves the mission?
• What worked that surprised us? Where did we see unexpected progress?

The organizations that grow aren’t the ones that do the most. They’re the ones that learn the most, and then have the courage to act on what they learn.

Take stock. Then take action.

This article is the first in our series Strategy For What's Next, designed to help you create meaningful plans and excellent results in the year ahead. Read the next post in the series here.