Dear Friend,
Are you familiar with a typical business plan? If you are a small business owner and have ever applied for a significant bank loan, then you likely know what I am talking about.
A business plan is a carefully crafted plan that discerns where you are today, where you plan to go, and what steps you plan to take to get there (with relevant budgets attached, of course). The idea of a business plan seems quite prudent. I mean, if you don’t have a map, how can you expect to reach your destination?
The problem with business plans in the 21st Century, or for that matter long-term plans of any sort, is that they are worthless the moment you create them. This is because they are based on assumptions and guesses that seem likely to be accurate today, but are unlikely to actually be accurate in the future because today’s world moves with such speed and chaos that any meaningful prediction is, as a practical matter, impossible.
For years, businesses, governments and other organizations have guided their direction and progress by careful planning, so as to take the shortest and most efficient approach to their goals. The socialist government model is essentially based on the idea that a planned government is an efficient and effective government. Such planning today is an exercise in futility, and therefore the utmost in inefficiency.
So, what are organizations and individuals to do? Just drift along on the chaos and see where it leads us? As a result of the continued false belief in planning by some, drifting in the chaos is exactly what has been occurring. If you don’t believe me, just look at the inefficiency and failures of large institutions and markets today – those entities most controlled by central planning.
The solution to dealing with 21st Century chaos is not to let the seas take us where they may, but rather to develop the skills of an expert sea captain, so that we can best maneuver our ships in the waves of chaos, and perhaps even harness this wild energy to drive us to where we really want to go.
Forget planning. Develop your personal skill sets so that you are ready for whatever comes. Stay flexible and be ready for opportunity from any quarter. Always be prepared to think “outside of the box,” and use your prepared state to pounce on any opportunity as it passes in front of you before others catch it first.
Southwest Airlines had an action plan on its shelf at all times for jumping on likely opportunities as they became available. Notice, this was not a fixed plan, but an action plan – a plan of what specific actions would need to be set in place on a moment’s notice so that their organization could take advantage of strategic opportunities that might appear.
How did Southwest know what to prepare for? They couldn’t know for sure. However, they spent time brainstorming about the possibilities, and then setting up specific scenario action plans that they could pull from the shelf and institute long before their competitors could react. They regularly utilized this tactic to beat their competitors to the punch and built a great airline as a result.
Whether you are in business or not, considering the future can be a frightening prospect. Don’t worry about the chaos. Focus on your personal skill sets, brainstorm and create scenario action plans like the folks at Southwest Airlines, and act without hesitation when a likely scenario appears on the horizon.
Best of luck to you now and always!
All the best,
Hugh
