Planning to Make Informed Decisions

Planning is a Systematic Way to Make Informed Decisions

Planning is NOT a:

• Projection: Although some managers just extend recent past performance into the future and call that a plan, it’s not usually very helpful.  Chances are, the future will be different than the past.
• Way to Reduce Ambiguity: Ambiguity can’t be reduced, it can only be addressed.  A good planning process will help clarify the impact of many different possibilities.
• Management Activity: No longer the domain of executives, planning is a responsibility of everyone who makes decisions.  In today’s flatter organizations, that’s more people throughout the organization.
• 2-Day Retreat: Making informed decisions can’t be done on a periodic basis– it’s done continuously and often, right in front of the customer.

Planning is a systematic way to make informed decisions. It is through this process that organizations are able to act, learn from their results, and create a culture of corporate decision making that guides them to their future state.