Comments on: Business Planning: It’s a Lot More Than Strategy http://www.russellyardley.com/opinions/2009/08/business-planning-its-a-lot-more-than-strategy/ Just another WordPress weblog Thu, 17 Jun 2010 02:39:33 -0500 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.5 hourly 1 By: Casper Stoel http://www.russellyardley.com/opinions/2009/08/business-planning-its-a-lot-more-than-strategy/comment-page-1/#comment-33 Casper Stoel Wed, 26 Aug 2009 00:13:46 +0000 http://www.russellyardley.com/opinions/?p=77#comment-33 Hi Russell, Thanks for sharing your experiences in this great little piece. I am a strong believer in planning, so you are preaching to the converted! As a business process management professional the Plan-Do-Check-Act cycle is my daily bread... I recognize the tendency to be over-ambitious in the planning phase. A regular (e.g. monthly) review of the actual vs. the planned is very important to keep the ambitions in line with reality. However, I would like to note that the interval of the planning phase itself should be dependent on the size of the company (and where it is in its life-cycle): A one-person start-up might have to re-plan every three months due to changes in the assumptions made. For a more established company a yearly cycle should work well. For a major corporation a a longer cycle might even work. Although the frequency and the number of people involved is different, the actual work in getting the plan on paper stays pretty much the same. Cheers, Casper Hi Russell,

Thanks for sharing your experiences in this great little piece. I am a strong believer in planning, so you are preaching to the converted! As a business process management professional the Plan-Do-Check-Act cycle is my daily bread… I recognize the tendency to be over-ambitious in the planning phase. A regular (e.g. monthly) review of the actual vs. the planned is very important to keep the ambitions in line with reality.

However, I would like to note that the interval of the planning phase itself should be dependent on the size of the company (and where it is in its life-cycle): A one-person start-up might have to re-plan every three months due to changes in the assumptions made. For a more established company a yearly cycle should work well. For a major corporation a a longer cycle might even work. Although the frequency and the number of people involved is different, the actual work in getting the plan on paper stays pretty much the same.

Cheers,
Casper

]]> By: Walter Adamson http://www.russellyardley.com/opinions/2009/08/business-planning-its-a-lot-more-than-strategy/comment-page-1/#comment-32 Walter Adamson Tue, 25 Aug 2009 07:27:51 +0000 http://www.russellyardley.com/opinions/?p=77#comment-32 Meant to say "Your readers might really enjoy this post as well": http://blog.lookery.com/2009/08/21/couldery-shouldery/ Couldery Shouldery - the shutdown of Lookery You might want to edit it into my prior post. Wal Meant to say “Your readers might really enjoy this post as well”:
http://blog.lookery.com/2009/08/21/couldery-shouldery/

Couldery Shouldery – the shutdown of Lookery

You might want to edit it into my prior post.

Wal

]]> By: Walter Adamson http://www.russellyardley.com/opinions/2009/08/business-planning-its-a-lot-more-than-strategy/comment-page-1/#comment-31 Walter Adamson Tue, 25 Aug 2009 07:20:24 +0000 http://www.russellyardley.com/opinions/?p=77#comment-31 Hi Russell, It's a great post and thanks for putting down your congealed experience. Based on my experience I am 110% with you. I've done a lot of business planning, and operations etc In fact I've had it said to me about a business plan "if you're so smart then you go and make it happen" which is actually something I always enjoyed. I wasn't the guy to run it but I was a good person to start it and demonstrate the business value. I always think that it is very paradoxical that this statement of your can often be one of the hardest parts of a strategic planning process. You say "In setting out on any journey it is essential to know from where you are starting. A good plan must be built on the solid foundation of a realistic view of where the business is today and that is not where you wanted the business to be today; it must be exactly and accurately where the business is today." Getting this done was often bitter, political, filled with lies, and lack of authenticity. Usually things had to cool down for a night after just TRYING to establish a legitimate and credible view of where the business is today. That's always amazed me. By the way if this stage is skipped then risk goes way up. Walter Adamson @g2m CEO, NewLeaseG2m and Social Media Academy, Australia http://www.socialmedia-academy.com.au Hi Russell,

It’s a great post and thanks for putting down your congealed experience. Based on my experience I am 110% with you.

I’ve done a lot of business planning, and operations etc In fact I’ve had it said to me about a business plan “if you’re so smart then you go and make it happen” which is actually something I always enjoyed. I wasn’t the guy to run it but I was a good person to start it and demonstrate the business value.

I always think that it is very paradoxical that this statement of your can often be one of the hardest parts of a strategic planning process. You say “In setting out on any journey it is essential to know from where you are starting. A good plan must be built on the solid foundation of a realistic view of where the business is today and that is not where you wanted the business to be today; it must be exactly and accurately where the business is today.”

Getting this done was often bitter, political, filled with lies, and lack of authenticity. Usually things had to cool down for a night after just TRYING to establish a legitimate and credible view of where the business is today.

That’s always amazed me. By the way if this stage is skipped then risk goes way up.

Walter Adamson @g2m
CEO, NewLeaseG2m and Social Media Academy, Australia
http://www.socialmedia-academy.com.au

]]> By: John England http://www.russellyardley.com/opinions/2009/08/business-planning-its-a-lot-more-than-strategy/comment-page-1/#comment-30 John England Tue, 25 Aug 2009 06:27:00 +0000 http://www.russellyardley.com/opinions/?p=77#comment-30 Hi Russell They do say that the definition of a positive thinker is some one who agrees with you! Well I think you are a positive thinker. Seriously I do fully endorse the points you make and particularly endorse to implication that business development is an integrated effort that requires constant attention. This whole area is one the greatly interests me. To that end we have developed a method of software development we call "Method Neutral". This is based on the fact that most information and planning systems spend more time focussing on the interface that the information it contains. A good example would be a mind map which as it grows consumes an inordanate amount to time in the actual mapping process. Our latest product, Mindsystems Amode is designed to the "method Neutral" stadard and take the view the information is the centre of the universe and should be available in a variety of views at the click of a mouse. Amode is particularly effective in planning and developing procedures for business operation. For example effective procedures can be developed to capture knowledge for departing employees and then using that knowledge for subsequent induction. Amode also dramatically reduces planning time by providing a host of preformatted templates. I would value your opinion on this Russell and you can find information and download at: http://www.mindsystems.com.au/products/amode/index.php ... if you like it I will happily supple an NFR key Cheers, John Hi Russell
They do say that the definition of a positive thinker is some one who agrees with you! Well I think you are a positive thinker. Seriously I do fully endorse the points you make and particularly endorse to implication that business development is an integrated effort that requires constant attention.
This whole area is one the greatly interests me. To that end we have developed a method of software development we call “Method Neutral”. This is based on the fact that most information and planning systems spend more time focussing on the interface that the information it contains. A good example would be a mind map which as it grows consumes an inordanate amount to time in the actual mapping process. Our latest product, Mindsystems Amode is designed to the “method Neutral” stadard and take the view the information is the centre of the universe and should be available in a variety of views at the click of a mouse.
Amode is particularly effective in planning and developing procedures for business operation. For example effective procedures can be developed to capture knowledge for departing employees and then using that knowledge for subsequent induction. Amode also dramatically reduces planning time by providing a host of preformatted templates.
I would value your opinion on this Russell and you can find information and download at: http://www.mindsystems.com.au/products/amode/index.php … if you like it I will happily supple an NFR key

Cheers, John

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