Today, the City Council will discuss and vote on the City Board’s proposal for the city’s new strategy.
The draft strategy is available on the city’s website, which you can access via this link: link
To refresh the memory, Matti Remes's column from a few years ago, 'Does Hanko Have a Strategy?'
Does Hanko have a strategy?
Strategy means a plan or a means to achieve a certain goal. First, a goal is defined, and then an action plan is created, meaning the ways to get there are devised.
Steps are defined, or as it is fashionable to say nowadays: the plan is articulated.
Strategy is thus the selection and management of key objectives and operational guidelines
in a changing world. Strategy facilitates decision-making because there is one common goal.
If one intends to rob a bank, the plan must be quite precise. If one wants to become president, the degree of difficulty multiplies. In both cases, however, the decision is easy to make, simply by deciding, but the implementation of both plans involves many variable factors that one cannot influence or prepare for. Therefore, strategy must constantly be adapted to changes and evolving goals.
Does the city of Hanko have a goal and a strategy? It most likely does, but just as certainly, it is so vague and verbose that it holds no real meaning. At least
ordinary citizens do not know what Hanko's strategic objective is. What kind of city are we striving to be?
What is essential in Hanko? What aspects are being strengthened? What kind of city will we be
in ten years? Why?
When the goal is clear, it should be on everyone's lips and known to all. All
decision-making should be based on that decided goal. For example: if we make this investment,
how does it support our goal?
The city's strategy should fit into one sentence. The detailed explanation, in turn, should take up at most one sheet of paper. It is not enough for a strategy to say 'we want to be a good place to live for city residents' or 'it is easy to live and do business in Hanko'. These are too vague and too obvious. Of course, every city strives to make life pleasant and easy for its residents.
Lauttasaari in Helsinki has named itself the 'island of the happy'. A challenging and bold
claim that will surely divide opinions, but it is quite valid because all decision-making can be
reflected in that statement.
'Is this construction project in line with our goal? Does it increase happiness?
A waterfront boulevard must be built here because it increases happiness. Are the daycare centers in good order if
we claim to be an island of the happy?' Etc., etc.
Hanko's goal can no longer be 'an architectural gem, or one of Europe's most beautiful cities'. That train has already left the station.
Nor can Hanko any longer be 'Finland's gourmet capital.' That ship has also sailed.
Could Hanko be a city famous for its guesthouses? No, it cannot, because so many
guesthouses have been converted into apartments, and the remaining ones will also be. Now officials say: 'The city cannot buy all the old guesthouses?' Hmm? Why not?
We could still strive to be a spa town if we first built the missing swimming hall.
Striving to be a party town is unlikely to bring added value to the city's residents.
Could Hanko be famous for its gardens? Yes, but not without decisions and investments aimed at achieving that.
Hanko could be a colorful city. A city of wooden architecture. A city for artists.
A green city. A technologically advanced city. A harbor city for wooden boats.
A mecca for sailing.
There are countless possibilities. One just needs to know how to create a successful strategy and be able to implement it. It is also important to be able to renew oneself.
This article already contains 12 instances of the word 'strategy'. That is far too many. The goal could be to reduce the number of 'strategy' words.
Ruben Waara
(Ruben Waara is a fictional character in Matti Remes's Hanko detective novels.)