Failing to Plan is Planning to Fail

The above phrase can be attributed to a LOT of different people. I suppose it’s because it’s such a simple truth.
 
Traditionally, December and January are the months that we have done our planning for the coming year (unless you were really motivated and started preparing in November!).

Let’s step into The Way Back Machine (yes, I am still a fan of the 1960’s cartoon, The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show!). It was one of the first programs that targeted parents as much as their kids. Two years ago, we were coming off a strong 2019 as we laid out plans for 2020. A couple of months later, every one of those plans changed to, “We need fourteen days to flatten the curve!” OUCH!

One of the first casualties of COVID-19 was our long-term planning, right? The 2020 plan went out the window, and suddenly we were rolling into, Thirty Day Pivot Planning, reacting in an environment that was a moving target and trying to survive. That is, if we actually did the Pivot Planning and successfully reacted. Unfortunately, a lot of businesses didn’t (or were unable) to get past the immediate challenge of surviving COVID-19.

Just one year ago, we put COVID-19 shots into our 2021 plans and dealt with reopening a society that we didn’t think would go back to EXACTLY the way it was (but we were hopeful).

Holy Cow! Was that ever off base!

More unexpected changes were waiting in the wings, such as a badly disrupted supply chain, labor shortages, increasing inflation, etc.

Will planning (long, middle, or short-term) ever matter again? You’d better believe it!

“Plans are worthless, but planning is everything.”

 — Dwight D. Eisenhower, Leader of the D-Day Invasion of Europe and the Western Allies in WWII.

The purpose of planning is not the actual, finished document that’s produced. It’s about the thinking and discussion that goes into building a plan that produces the value. What really matters is the anticipation of what to do moving forward. It's being able to know how to pivot quickly for the planning and contingencies that can be provided if something starts to go south.
 
If you haven’t built a plan for 2022 yet, it’s not too late. And it’s especially timely to build one for the First Quarter — one that lets you think through the Marketing and Selling that you want to accomplish, the changes to your Operations that you want to make, and the People that you want to hire and grow, (that will keep you or get you back on track) to what you want to achieve for your business.
 
Need some help or guidance? Let me help! Call 770.649.6730.