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In their ground breaking HBR article Prahalad and Hamel discuss the value of strategic intent and how it enables organisations to innovate and succeed.
A key part of the text below.
Strategic intent is our term for such an animating dream. It also implies a particular point of view about the long-term mar- ket or competitive position that a firm hopes to build over the coming decade or so. Hence, it conveys a sense of direction. A strategic intent is differentiated; it implies a competitively unique point of view about the future. It holds out to employees the promise of exploring new competitive territory. Hence, it conveys a sense of discovery. Strategic intent has an emotional edge to it; it is a goal that employees perceive as inherently worthwhile. Hence, it implies a sense of destiny. Direction, discovery, and destiny. These are the attributes of strategic intent.” (pp.l29-13O)
For developing a policy, we need the same kind of strategic approach. I see enormous value in creating a policy intent. Rewriting the above quote in this context gives us this.
Policy intent is our term for an animating dream. It also implies a particular point of view about the long-term position that a department or government of the day hopes to build over the coming decade or so. Hence, it conveys a sense of direction. A strategic intent is differentiated; it implies a unique point of view about the future. It holds out to citizens and the public sector the promise of exploring new territory. Hence, it conveys a sense of discovery. Policy intent has an emotional edge to it; it is a goal that everyone perceives as inherently worthwhile. Hence, it implies a sense of destiny. Direction, discovery, and destiny. These are the attributes of policy intent.” (pp.l29-13O)
As Jeanne Liedke suggests, “Strategic thinking is fundamentally concerned with, and driven by, the shaping and re-shaping of intent, often referred to as thinking in time”