What is Your Perspective?

Can you believe it?

We have turned the calendar to a new year and we need to get ourselves back into the "business mindset."


As Ralph said in his blog post earlier, now is not the time to throw a bunch of ideas on the wall and see which ones stick - and call that a Plan. Now is the time to change your perspective, reviewing what went right and wrong in 2007 and establish a SMART plan to make changes so that we will achieve the results we want in 2008.

But how do we look at ourselves and our business critically? My wife and I were talking about this during the holidays and realized that 2008 WILL be different than 2007. It can't be the same since we are different people than we were one year ago; we've grown, changed, learned and adjusted based on events of the year. So by design we will be different this year - but how? How will I look at my skills, talents and results and make the right changes at the right time?

I must change my perspective and look at where I am right now from a different point of view. In other words, if I keep looking at my business and my life from the same perspective I am going to get the same view. However, if I look at the current situation from a different perspective (or point of view) then I am going to see different areas to change and improve and therefore get different results.

From what perspective will you view your business today? What might others see that you don't; how is their perspective different than yours? Take a different view and let us know what you see...

Do You Plan to Succeed?

As I was discussing next year's goals with clients today the thought struck me that our usually-dormant "planning gene" reawakens this time of year and we suddenly hurry to put down on paper what we wish to accomplish in the new year.

For whatever reason many business owners suddenly feel very prophetic in December and know exactly what they will do for the next 12 months and commit their entire year's Plan to memory - or at least it seems that way since they never actually review their plan after about the 2nd week of January...

The problem with the scenario above is that the fit of inspiration you feel in December doesn't help you succeed in June - or July - or October. It makes you feel better in December but that's about it. You've created a Plan to fail when you only commit to the planning process once a year.

Instead, create an annual Plan in December but review it every 90 days and make course corrections as necessary. Certainly your competitors are going to make adjustments throughout the year, your customers' needs and wants are going to shift and your suppliers are going to change their products and services.

So smooth out your "Success Planning" by creating an Action Plan in December to provide you guidance for the year, and then review and adjust at the end of each quarter to account for conditions that have changed. You'll find that you are much more likely to score touchdowns with a consistent gameplan focused on getting first downs than if throw a "Hail Mary" whenever you need more points.

So, what do you want to accomplish in the first quarter of 2008...?