TLCPL underwent a strategic planning process in 1996 with many opportunities for staff involvement. A similar process was planned for the 2021-26 strategic priorities, but COVID-19 restrictions required a different approach. An organizational change management firm worked with senior leadership for data gathering and alignment exercises to identify the TLCPL’s current state, future state and truth statements and produced a learning map with cultural ground rules, underlying beliefs and six strategic priorities.

• The strategic plan rollout followed a strategic communications process established during COVID-19: board presentation, manager meeting and then a staff town hall. Then all staff received a learning map and each agency received a large display map. Following the introduction, an inclusive adaptation process focused on helping staff members integrate the ground rules, beliefs and priorities into their daily work. Each manager led their teams through a formal Future State Dialogue process and a comprehensive Gap Analysis.

For each priority, staff were asked to define three states for their position and agency:

• Current: What are the specific things being done now to support this priority?
• Future: What are the new or different things that could be done during the next five years to support this priority?
• Gap: What changes and solutions will your agency need to implement to realize the future state with our current staffing levels? Staff submitted hundreds of pages of answers for senior leadership to synthesize to make the strategic plan a reality.