So I’m working with a client earlier this week on long range planning, and a visitor joined us for lunch and wanted to know what we were up to. The CEO explained and the guy said, “Right, so you’ll do the planning, put it in a binder on the shelf, and that’ll be the end of it.” I was struck by how many times I’ve heard versions of that same story over the past 20 years; in fact, how many times I’ve had it happen to me. You go through an arduous exercise to get the plan done, go through the arduous process of linking it to a budget, through the process of getting board buy-in and approval, and then poof! The plan is rarely if ever to be seen again! And straight we go into tactics.
In my consulting practice, my clients tell the exact same story. That’s why the new mantra is, “Planning is not the goal, results are the goal.” Planning is just one of several key steps in getting results, not a process unto itself. Planning has to be done in a way that will will breed executional success. You plan the results you want so that you can get the results you planned.
In my consulting practice, my clients tell the exact same story. That’s why the new mantra is, “Planning is not the goal, results are the goal.” Planning is just one of several key steps in getting results, not a process unto itself. Planning has to be done in a way that will will breed executional success. You plan the results you want so that you can get the results you planned.
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