Participate in the Twitter Business Plan Initiative
February 24th, 2009People seem to divide into those who love planning and those who avoid it like the plague.
In the present relentless financial gloom, perhaps there’s a half-way house to planning? Perhaps we should plan more often and more succinctly? After all, the plans we need in place now will be very different to the plans we made twelve months ago. This is a new world where our followers expect even more value from us and perhaps a little humility. They still expect leadership from us. Indeed, when times are tough, good leadership is all the more welcome. But they don’t require the sort of leadership that tramples over individual desires and values. Listening leadership is the right sort of leadership for difficult times.
So where does this leave our business planning? We need to recognize that our plans are not the whole story. Lehman Brothers no doubt had extensive plans and risk assessments in place on the day they went to the wall! But planning nevertheless has value. It can be a snapshot of where we are at the moment and how we might get to where we want to be next. But never set your plans in stone. Be ready to embrace new opportunities.
So I would advocate the one page plan, revised whenever circumstances change. And to make planning seem less daunting, I’m also avocating the twitter business plan of less than 140 characters. I suggest that you put this on the front page of your web site and change it whenever you see fit. This should help to focus your organization’s attention on your immediate plans and make the planning process seem less of an obstacle.
To participate in the Twitter organizational planning initiative, tweet your plan adding the tag, #my_plan
This will leave you with about 130 characters for your twitter plan – more than enough for anyone! Please also post your plan in the comments below. You can do this even if you do not have a Twitter account. We have placed our plan on the front page of our web site and in the comments below.
We hope that this will take some of the anxiety out of planning and encourage the revisiting of your plan at every opportunity.
If you found this article useful, please Twitter it now.
February 24th, 2009 at 9:01 am
Try to help others to concentrate on their core skills and never compromise on their beliefs whilst negotiating the hard times. #my_plan
February 25th, 2009 at 7:06 am
Develop 1st class listening skills, silence inner chatter, what does your market want? Plan with passion and understanding#my_plan