Unless you are a clairvoyant, long-term planning is a fantasy genre for you. In reality, there are simply too many factors that we cannot foresee: market conditions, competitors, consumers, the economy, and so on. Creating a plan gives you a sense of control over something that you actually do not control.
Why don’t we just call plans what they really are: guesses? Let’s call business plans business guesses, your financial plans financial guesses, and your strategic plans strategic guesses. Now you can stop worrying so much about their execution. They simply aren’t worth it.
When you turn divination into plans, you enter a very dangerous zone. Plans, in fact, allow the past to dictate the future. They blind you. “This is where we are going because we said earlier that we would go there.” And therein lies the biggest problem. Plans are completely incompatible with improvisation.
However, you need to be able to improvise. You must be capable of seizing the opportunities that arise. Sometimes you need to say, “We’re heading in a new direction because it makes sense today.” The time when you create long-term plans also works against you. Most of the information you rely on when doing something comes to you while you’re doing it, not beforehand. And when do you usually write a plan? Just before you’re about to do something. And that’s the worst time to make important decisions.
It’s not that you shouldn’t think about the future or anticipate how you’ll tackle upcoming challenges. It’s always worth doing that. Just don’t feel like you have to sit down and write a big plan or act according to such a plan. If you write a lengthy plan, chances are you’ll never look at it again. Plans that take up more than a few pages will end up as fossilized remains sitting in your desk drawer.
Stop trying to predict anything. Decide what you are going to do this week, not this year. Figure out what the most important things are that you need to do right now and get them done. Make decisions right before you are about to do something, not long in advance.
There’s nothing wrong with just buying a plane ticket and flying away. You can buy a better t-shirt, shaving cream, and a toothbrush wherever you land.
The style of working without plans may seem daunting, but blindly following a plan that has no connection to reality should be even more frightening.