What is your margin of error?
Is your plan built in such a way that all of the stars must align to hit your goals? Must every member in every department achieve or exceed their goals for the organization to hit its goals?
We can lay out the perfect plan based on the current situation and life has a way of showing up. The larger your organization, the more “life” you’re likely to experience. Are you overly optimistic and hope everything works out? It feels irresponsible to build a plan based on everything happening perfectly over twelve months. Frequently, a coaching client will start our call with something like this.… “Jamie, I’m so disappointed because Friday _________ gave their notice. They’re moving to ___________ and at the end of the month, I need to have a replacement.” My response is always the same. I say “ You didn’t think you were going to build a massive business and not have people leave the organization along the way, did you?” Of course, the answer is always no. Regardless of how great of a leader you are, life always shows up. People are born, and people die. People are healthy and they’re sick. Spouses get promoted and spouses get fired. All of these things cause life events that may be out of our immediate control.
Knowing life is going to happen to all of us, wouldn’t it make sense to include a margin of error, so that when it shows up, you’re not completely derailed?
A coach once told me “you marry your mission, and you date your plan.” To me, this made a lot of sense. As a business owner, you’re likely on a mission to accomplish something. This mission is the driving force behind everything you do. The plan you create is your best guess at what will get you there when the plan is created. However, life shows up; it’s nice to know that we expected it. In short, look at your plan and make sure you have a margin of error.