Ian M Rountree

Copywriter, Project Manager, Digital Marketing

  • Copywriting
    • Content Marketing
    • SEO
  • About
  • Contact

Planning for Yesterday

November 10, 2009 by Ian Leave a Comment

Until time travel becomes possible, there is no benefit in planning for yesterday. It’s done; take the lessons as they are and move on. People understand this concept, so why can’t businesses?

Have you eve had trouble, interfacing with Them On High (ie: Your Boss’ Bosses) in your company?You know who I mean, people who repeat expectations like mantras, expecting that more drill means different results in the future. Einstein’s definition of insanity in action. We’re coming out of a recession, everything’s looking up – but none of the behaviours have been affected by what’s happened lately. The buying habits of our clients have changed and forward looking people knew they would but the line is still the same; keep the numbers up. Look for this percentage of gains.

What is this nonsense?

One of the first mentors I had when I was coming into management said once that no business plans for a loss. You don’t act on things you know will harm your goals, it’s the same for people as it is for businesses, so why do we see the same thing over and again? If you’re seeing this kind of behaviour, it’s a clear sign that your Them On High are doing just that. Corporate wisdom being what it is, they’ve convinced themselves that level is good enough, and have made the failing choice to be content.

The trouble is, if we’re not using the same metrics we always have, how do we decide on new ones? Hungry Mooks (read as: Shareholders) are limited by their usual lack of context in this, since they usually don’t spend a lot of time on the front lines, keeping the lights on by their every word. So how do we divine new numbers to make look pretty on charts?

Share this:

  • Email
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • LinkedIn
  • Reddit

Filed Under: Communication Tagged With: business plans, human business

Categories

  • Announcements
    • Event Notices
  • Blog
  • Communication
  • Content Strategy
  • Marketing Strategy
  • Personal
  • Reviews
  • Social Media
  • Technology

Archive

  • January 2016
  • June 2015
  • October 2014
  • September 2014
  • January 2012
  • December 2011
  • November 2011
  • September 2011
  • August 2011
  • July 2011
  • June 2011
  • May 2011
  • April 2011
  • March 2011
  • February 2011
  • January 2011
  • December 2010
  • November 2010
  • October 2010
  • September 2010
  • August 2010
  • July 2010
  • June 2010
  • May 2010
  • April 2010
  • March 2010
  • February 2010
  • January 2010
  • December 2009
  • November 2009
  • October 2009
  • September 2009
  • August 2009
  • July 2009
  • June 2009
  • May 2009
  • April 2009
  • March 2009
  • November 2008
  • October 2008
  • July 2008
  • February 2004
  • Copywriting
  • Blog
  • Reading Lists
  • Colophon

© Copyright 2023 Ian M Rountree · All Rights Reserved