Knowing your unwritten business plan

If you're anything like me, you have thought about what you want to do and might have even written down a few goals (most likely one January evening after new year). Then, if the thing actually happens, it is a surprise. I am not advocating that we should all sit down and spend countless hours writing a detailed plan. In fact, there is empirical evidence suggesting that the less time you spend planning the better, in some cases. This is particularly true when you are trying to introduce something new into the marketplace. The theory is that if you are disrupting what is there already, you are likely to be entering a volatile and unpredictable playing field. A field where there are no competitors one day and a flooded market the next. Your business model better be flexible in these conditions or you'll drown.

This is where chaos and intuition come in. I often hear directors saying, "It's all in my head" about their plans. And I have no objection to it being there really. I am delighted with how many success stories come from 99% chaos and 1% planning. It is human and humbling. Of course, it helps to have a rich benevolent uncle and a circle of talented marketing and finance friends but nonetheless, success can be the fruit of intuition.

The caveat to this is finding a balance. If you have no vision or goal, then what I find is that one day I get somewhere and think, "How did I get here? This is not in my life plan!" And then I think, oh perhaps I better write a life plan. At those times, I'm reminded of a talk given to Harvard graduates a few years ago. The speaker showed that graduates who had written down where they wanted to be in 5 years were more often than not there. And that those who had written nothing had overwhelmingly achieved less (entirely subjective of course). This tells me that spending one evening writing down 4 or 5 key objectives for the year is a great idea. And also that weeks planning my life and business plan may not be as fruitful as I imagine. Remember, this is coming from someone who spends her days creating practical marketing plans for companies. But those plans are created in 10 hours, not 10 weeks. I'm rather pleased to have condensed my plans with companies so entirely now. And it shows that a balance between not writing anything down versus over thinking it to the nth degree can be struck. I am about to write 5 objectives for 2012. Funny thing is; I am inspired to do so having just read what I wrote here. A small chance that the workings of chaos and intuition are at play? Good luck everyone in achieving your dreams for 2012.

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