“No business plan survives first contact with the customer.”
“If you want to hear God laugh, tell her your plans.”
Have you heard these? We know we have. Usually from people who don’t want to invest the time in putting their plans to paper. Here’s what we also know: committing to a direction in writing, clarifies and solidifies your thinking. It lets you get clarity on:
1. Where you want your business or product to go
2. What actions you believe it will take to get there
3. How you want your customers or stakeholders to react
4. A set of benchmarks you can use to measure, adapt, and adjust as you implement
That last part is usually the part that gets forgotten. The plan isn’t a stone tablet. Just like the blueprint for a new house is only the beginning of what that place will need to become a home, the plan is a starting place. When you have a bias for action (as I do), it can feel slow, cumbersome, and frustrating sometimes. But it can also provide great clarity as you work through it. Used right, it lets you document your learning as you go. It becomes a body of evidence of your experiments, hypotheses, and assumptions, and it can help build critical thinking and the ability to “see around corners” – keeping you in business for a long time.
I’m Megann Willson and I’m one of the partners here at PANOPTIKA. We work with clients to help them see everything they need to do to make better decisions for their business, so they can find, understand, and keep their best customers. Since 2001 we’ve helped hundreds of companies with thousands of business challenges, and we can help you, too. What are we seeing? Follow us on Twitter, on LinkedIn, or set an appointment for a no-obligation conversation about what you’re trying to solve in your business.
Every week, we share news, ideas, links to this blog, books we’re reading (and recommending), and our speaking schedule, direct to inboxes around the world. You can sign up with the handy button, below: