Planning Will Fail You While Goal Setting Will Keep Your Relevant
Simple goal setting makes planning more relevant and effective.
If you printed out all the business plans from US businesses over the last 50 years and stacked them up they'd stretch to the Moon.
Ok, I completely made that up but clearly we're indoctrinated from an early age to plan and 'writing a business plan is critical' has become a widely held belief bordering on common sense.
Don't fall prey to the fancy sounding "fail to plan, plan to fail."
In business, planning can do you in. Don't get me wrong, I'm not arguing against developing a plan as a roadmap the problem is we often make that roadmap our idol. We pray to it, worship it, and never think to trade it for something new.
Goal Setting, on the other hand, is transcendent even when simplistic.
Let me give you an example.
Newspaper 1 developed a plan of action to produce and deliver the best newspaper in town. This included everything from sales tactics to content production workflows and even distribution.
Newspaper 2 developed a set of goals for the organization. Their goals were to deliver the most high-value news and information experience to readers while positively impacting the business of their advertisers by building on their legacy of local relevance.
Can you spot the difference and the long term implications this has?
In tech circles the notion of the Lean Startup has emerged whereby entrepreneurs develop hypotheses and then test them, refine, and test again with the purpose of creating a more relevant business.
As a Marketing Strategist MBA I can't help but apply a framework to something and I love the general implications of a "Market Positioning Statement" - Cornell developed a Madlibs-style Market Positioning Statement Generator.
Locable's Market Positioning Statement for our Publisher Network would look something like:
For publishers, Locable's Publisher Network will increase revenue and save time. Locable's Publisher Network is battle-tested for today's evolving social media landscape. Our industry leading technology and training promises to build community while helping publishers profit.
Planning is fine but having a vision and purpose allows you to break from your plan as market and customer needs dictate thus allowing you to not only survive but thrive as the world continues to change.
Learn how we can help your publication thrive amidst an ever changing local media market...
