Be the Man With a Plan

Eleanor Roosevelt once said, "It takes as much energy to wish as it does to plan." So, you thought about, and you have a plan...but will it work? The lovely people at the Harvard Business Review have written an incredibly lengthy article with all kinds of wonderful examples to tell you there are seven important questions you should ask yourself when deciding on a strategy to make sure the plan is on track. Some are obvious, but I thought I would save you some time...

To identify and set your priorities, ask yourself:
Q.1) Who is your primary customer?
Q.2) How do your core values prioritize shareholders, employees and customers?




To stay focused, think about:
Q.3) What performance variables are you tracking?
Q.4) What strategic boundaries have been set?


To ensure your plan uses creative tension and commitment:
Q.5) How are you generating creative tension?
Q.6) Do you employees help each other?


To see if your strategy can be adapted with time:
Q.7) What uncertainties about your plan keep you up at night?


Now you have it. The quick and dirty version. For full explanations and more details, the article is definitely worth checking out. The Harvard Business Review knows what they're doing.