A shot of pessimism can help your plan

You have probably developed a written plan for your business.  You know what you want to achieve in the big picture this year, and likely 3,5 or even 10 years into the future. Good for you, because your plan helps you make decisions about allocating resources and focusing the energies of your team. You might be pretty excited right now about the possibilities you have created. Regardless of your optimism, we need to pose this - a shot of pessimism can help your plan.

Assumptions

When you plan, you make certain assumptions. There are assumptions about 

• the size of the potential market, 
• the fierceness of your competition, 
• the availability of capital,
• the outlook for the economy, and
• your ability to attract and retain talent

Are your assumptions correct? How do you know? In your business, whose job is it to know?

Just because you're not looking for it doesn't mean it isn't going to happen. In early 2020 businesses planned under an "invisible" assumption that consumers would be healthy and out and about visiting stores, restaurants, and tourist destinations. Whew, were they wrong! Not casting stones here - simply highlighting that assumptions can kill a plan. The nimblest companies managed to pivot from their existing plans to find other ways to move their products and services in the midst of Covid lockdown. But many businesses suffered, and continue to suffer - or even find themselves compelled to close.

Covid-19 has been characterized as a once in a century event. But the appearance of a pandemic isn't the only circumstance that went unaccounted for in last year's planning. What are the other questions that you're not asking when you are developing your plan? Ask them. Identify them.

Contingency Plans

It's not the obstacles that will get you - it's the unanticipated obstacles, the unhappy surprises in your business that can send you into a tailspin. Some are truly difficult to anticipate, like Covid was for the typical person minding his or her business. But some obstacles and potential obstacles can be anticipated, and plans developed ahead of time to manage through them should they arise. In particular, contingency planning is critical when you are in a high risk situation - financially, competitively, or when individual and public safety is involved. The higher the risk is that you are facing when planning, the more important contingency planning becomes.

There are people on your team who possess a talent for identifying things that could go wrong. Rather than ignore them or shun them as nonbelievers with bad attitudes, involve them in your planning. Take their input about hurdles and potential hurdles and use it to develop contingency plans. If you don't need Plan B, that's great. But if you do wind up needing to implement Plan B, or C, etc., you won't waste time when quick and effective response is important. The quality of your contingency response is likely better when you're not thinking while under the immediate stress of an impending crisis.

We would never suggest that you turn into Debbie Downer about the future of your business. You are a ProActive CEO, after all. But a dose of pessimism can help you be prepared for and successfully overcome the hurdles that could be ahead.

Coaches in ProActive Leadership Group are trained to help growing businesses plan and successfully execute. Reach out for a complimentary Organizational Health Assessment.