Mar 18

Oh, to Plan

I continue to marvel at how many businessmen and businesswomen have no clear and bold plans for creating what they want, much less running what they have. It’s odd, since we plan in so many areas of our lives. We plan vacations. We plan holiday events months in advance. We plan our educations. We plan to have kids. We plan for economic retirement. How few of us to plan for running our businesses.

I also notice how funnily people look at me when I ask them if they have a plan for the next five years of their lives, or ten. The very question makes me peculiar to them, if not annoying. This is equally true for corporate employees and entrepreneurs.

In a corporation, it is common for “the plan” to be driven mainly what the company needs and wants. Strictly speaking, responding to what the company wants is a plan - though it begs a BIG question; What is the likelihood I get what I want when I’m constantly (and maybe even, only)responding to what the company wants?

Entrepreneurs are in a similar boat. While the company may be mine, without a well-drawn up road map, goodness (or mediocrity) knows where I’ll end up.

Whichever case, corporate employee or company-owning entrepreneur, deciding what I want, stepping toward it purposefully and boldly, plus telling everyone I know where I’m heading are crucially important, unignorable steps to creating what I really want. The probability of my success and fulfillment is very low otherwise.

Lest I go too far with this idea, which has been around far longer than me and my clients, here’s an old-timer’s two-liner on the subject:

Our plans miscarry because they have no aim. When a man does not know what harbor he is making for, no wind is the right wind. - Seneca, the Roman playwright, philosopher and orator.

Post Script - at the risk of augmenting fair Seneca, when a man does not know what harbor he is making for, no wind is the wrong one either.

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