No Limits |
The Freedom Blog™
You Don’t Need A Plan “B”
Written by Steven Griggs | stevengriggs.com
“Without leaps of imagination, or dreaming, we
lose the excitement of possibilities. Dreaming, after all, is a form of
planning.”
Gloria Steinem
“Life is what happens while we’re making other
plans.”
John Lennon
Personally
I have a hard time with plans.
How
many times have you made a plan, thought it out very carefully, made a “to do” list
or punch list, only to have the thought crop up: “What if it doesn't work?
The
immediate answer is usually: “We go to plan ‘B”.
Plan
“B”? Really?
Doesn't having a plan “B” mean that Plan “A” is questionable?
Aren't you already admitting that there is a huge problem with plan “A”?
At
the very least it shows that you don’t really believe in the plan. And if you
don’t really believe in it, isn't that really the same thing as not having a plan?
I’m
not saying every plan is bad. But by having a plan you are trying to control the
outcome.
You might say but that’s the point! You want to control the outcome!
You
need a battle plan to execute your strategy! Everyone knows that you need a
battle plan!
Except
for one thing: Battle plans change immediately.
As Colin Powell said “No
battle plan survives contact with the enemy”
But how do you accomplish
anything without a plan? You need a business plan, a business strategy in order
to understand the steps, in order to know what to do at the right time, right?
Step one leads to step two
and so forth, right?
But that’s not what
really happens. Step 1 takes longer to accomplish so you jump to Step 2, but
step 2 is really not complete without step 1 so you jump to 3, but then step 3……
. The dominoes never fall in lockstep.
Plus, I believe business
plans are too slow. They are actually dangerous.
Anytime you have a
business plan you create a framework based on steps. Like I said above, the
steps may not all be quickly or easily accomplished, there will be hiccups. It also
becomes a bit mechanical, checking off your progress, building the business
step by step. You lose focus.
Business today moves too
fast to have a written, methodical plan. Things just change too quickly.
I also think there can
be a tendency to lose your focus. The steps show progress and become important,
too important. You become wedded to and in some ways locked in to the steps of
the business plan and take your focus off the real goal.
Oh, by the way, what is
the goal? Are the steps or the framework the goal?
That is the crucial thing.
Are you really clear about your ultimate goal? Do you have a clear intention about what you are working to
accomplish? What you are going to achieve?
That
is the key, having a clear intention, an emotionally charged connection with
your goal.
Once
you do, you won’t have time for a business plan you will be too busy making it
happen.
You
won’t need a list because everything will start happening too fast to write it
down.
You
will be light on your feet, sensing the changes, adapting and modifying on the
run.
You
can’t plan that!
So
set your intention. Connect with it on an emotional level. See the end.
The
Who, What, Where and How will show up on time. You will know what needs to be
done when the time comes.
Once
you really connect with the object of
your intention, you won’t ever need a Plan “B” or even a Plan “A”.
