A five year plan that matters
Bharat Chopra - August 31, 2005
Late in September, I will turn 27 years old. And in the next six months or so, I have some seriously important choices to make. I’m basically at a crossroads in my life, and what I’ve just come to realize is I have no stucture in my decision making process when it comes to figuring out… well… what I want to do with my life.
Most of you have probably written a five year plan for your business… but have you ever sat down and written a five year plan for your life?
Well – I’m going to write one. And here’s how I plan to do it.
For starters, I think I’ll need a vision statement and mission statement. After that’s in place, I can get to work on the five year plan. This should be complete with deadlines, milestones, and deliverables, just like any good business plan. Once the strategy is in place – it’s all about the execution. That’s the easy part, right? Ok – so how do I do all this? Before I get into the framework, let me lay the ground rules:
1. Gotta remember what the Director Emeritus from Bain Consulting told me. It’s better to have a strategy that’s 80 percent thought out and 100% executed than one that’s 100% thought out and 80% executed. Get moving, don’t procrastinate, and don’t get caught up in the details.
2. Don’t forget that the purpose of this exercise is so I can put my various assumptions down on paper and get them sense-checked by the people I look to for guidance. This way it’s much more transparent what I’m thinking and everyone who is involved can help me succeed and help me avoid pitfalls I haven’t foreseen. Clarity on paper shows clarity of thought. I’m fortunate that there are people around me who have forgotten more about business, and life, than I will ever know and the only way I can get good advice is by explaining myself to them clearly… and the only way I can do that is by knowing myself first.
3. Keep in mind the five-year plan is constantly evolving . It was the CFO from Levi’s told me they forecast three major disasters a year into their business plan. They don’t bother guessing whether it’s a tsunami or SARS or another 9/11… they’re just prepared to deal with whatever hits them. So I should stay focused but remain flexible.
4. “Life is in the journey, not the destination”. At least that’s what Abraham Lincoln said and he knew something about something. While I need to set goals and strive to achieve them – I better not get attached to the outcome. Enjoy the whole ride.
5. Aim high. Aim @#$%ing high. If you shoot for the stars, and land on the moon… hey, you’re still an astronaut. And that’s pretty cool!
Okay, those are the rules. Now here’s how I am going to put the mission statement, vision statement, and plan together. I’m going to use the good ol’ SCQA framework and a bit of Barbara Minto’s top-down structuring.
S – Understand the current situation.
The first step is to conduct a serious analysis of the current situation. This will involve trying to look, from the outside, at myself like I never have before. Who are my friends and family? How do I spend my time? What are my personal interests? What are my professional interests? What are my strengths, what are my weaknesses? What are my experiences? What are my habitsWhat does my balance sheet look like? What are my obligations, what are my liable for? What do I have going for me, what can I leverage on? ? With as little judgement as possible, I need to understand what I am? (Note – this is not a spiritual exercise – I’m not asking who I am or trying to answer life’s deep questions. Simply evaluating what is).
I’m already thinking this is going to be fun. And scary!
C – What is the complication?
Look – if there wasn’t something wrong, I wouldn’t be seeking a new strategy. This one will be pretty easy to scope out. But I will really scratch the surface and go beyond the obvious. And having laid out the current situation, it should be pretty easy to holistically identify the various issues at play.
Q – Ask the question
It’s kinda like Jeopardy. The problem has been laid out – now you have to ask the question. This is where I’ll apply the top down structure I learned from Barbara Minto’s books. There will be one overlying question, which is broken down into a series of four or five other questions. If I answer all of those, the answer to the overarching question will be obvious. But each of those sub-questions is then further broken down another level into four or five more questions. Again, the goal is to answer each of the small questions, and once this is done, I can work my way back to the bigger questions and those answers will be obvious. (Have I lost you yet?)
A – And finally, the answer
The way this works is I should hypothesize a few solutions, and then use all the data, research, and analysis gathered and conducted in the previous three stages to chose the best one. Sometimes, a new solution will present itself, and in others one of the hypotheses will prove correct. It’s always fun to have some serious outliers in the set of hypothesis.
So there it is; that’s my strategy to develop a vision and mission statement for my life, develop a five-year plan and a strategy for executing it.
Do you have a five-year plan? Don’t you think you should?
Let me know if you think I’ve missed anything… and hopefully I can get working on this soon. But first I think I'll go pick out the backgroud colors of the slides.
Bharat
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Posted by Bharat Chopra at August 31, 2005 08:55 AM
Comments
That sounds like a wonderful plan Bharat. There is a book called "What color is your parachute" that is updated yearly and this years looks pretty interesting.
Here is what the review says about it:
In the last four years, the United States has lost 2.3 million jobs—the most in any four-year period since Herbert Hoover and the Great Depression. Currently, millions of workers are unemployed both in the United States and worldwide and the problem isn’t likely to abate anytime soon. In the 2005 edition of his legendary job-hunting book, WHAT COLOR IS YOUR PARACHUTE? Richard Bolles presents a detailed plan for facing this societal problem head-on, declaring that we must each begin by mastering this new world for ourselves and then, once empowered, share our knowledge with others to empower the world.
In PARACHUTE 2005, Bolles offers a completely new book for this uncertain job market, laying out a simple, step-by-step plan for finding meaningful work and mission despite our economy’s jobless recovery. Featuring fresh explanations of old concepts and the introduction of new ideas, Bolles defines the distinctions between "resume jobs" and "grapevine jobs," between "passive job-hunting" and "active job-hunting," between "weak ties" and "strong ties," and much more. These are not normal times. And this is not your normal PARACHUTE. It faces squarely the "workquake" that is shaking up the job market around the world, and gives not only simple steps but steady hope.
Hi Bharat ... my son is 26 :-D I enjoyed your post. Love, Char
Hey Bharat
Good one. I am myselves "almost" in the same shoes as you are...[almost 'cos you and I are two different ppl with different goals and priorities in life]...but these were the thoughts that passed by my mind as well...in my opinion the rules are the key....first know what you want, your weaknesses/strengths...and yes your scope of opportunities....the way I am handling it is just plain rules you suggested...and be alert...be strong, be focused and be motivated no matter what....at this age i think lot of important factors are undecided...in career and in personal lives...for me the hardest thing is that not all aspects are in my hands...infact most of them are not; as and when things play out i have to be ready and adapt to acheive my personal and career goals...keeping the options open has become so much of a challenge!
On the other hand I guess the rules you suggested apply not just to a 20 something person but for everyone...goals and visions make one live a life and not exist...and that too to the max extent of the way one wants:) some say past a family life and some 50+ there can be no major goals to shape your life...but I strongly believe that there is still some life that has to be planned beside social security, medicare or for that matter a cruise;)
So I would say all the very best:)...btw which background did you choose for ur slides;)...
I would agree with the director emeritus from bain, unless, of course, your plan is suicide.
I would agree with the director emeritus from bain, unless, of course, your plan is suicide.
I would agree with the director emeritus from bain, unless, of course, your plan is suicide.
haha,
Cool, Bharat, nice,
Join the club! I´m 27 too, man,
Freakin´ life questions..know da feelin´!
anyway,
my Life Coaches:
1. www.anthonyrobbins.com/
2. www.jimrohn.com/
3. your dad´s..but you got his mail already..
Anthony Robbins has made a super cool programm,
Time of Your Life, you realy should do,
(and check his others too)
I´m decided I want to start my own business,
again,
(this time with succes..and so..)
(after my last two, almost succesfull ´attemps´)
So, this time, I putted a small step by step plan, on a Blog, so everybody, can throw some
good ideas, before lift-off, (somewhere in a future, asap)
http://dariuszadvocates.blogspot.com/
http://badboyzinpoland.blogspot.com/
When I was 27, this is what I read in a book by Joseph Campbell - "Follow your bliss". That is exactly what I did. The bliss did change along the years, so you adapt and go along with it.
You will notice that your life will be filled with coincidences and abounding with miracles. You will just have to be aware of them.
Do what you enjoy doing and the money will follow. Take calculated risks, and remember, your work will be your signature in this universe.
From a wise Indian lady
DEAR BHARAT,
I BELIEVE I MET YOU AT YOUR UNCLE DEEPAK'S
SEMINAR ABOUT FOUR YEARS AGO IN VALLEY FORGE, PA.
I THOUGHT YOU WERE A HANDSOME YOUNG MAN WITH SUCH
GOOD MANNERS. MY ADVICE TO YOU IS TO GET A LIFE
PLAN IN LOVING BHARAT. TAKE YOUR TIME SON, YOU
ARE A YOUNG MAN. THE REAL WINNER IS THE ONE WHO IS TOTALLY HAPPY AND FREE OF IT ALL. I PRAY YOUR
PATH WILL BECOME CLEAR TO YOU. TRUST IN YOURSELF,
YOU ARE A NICE PERSON.
I'm putting together a periodical newsletter for H.S. students, seniors specifically. I was wondering if I may use some of this material and relay it to these kids who are getting ready to step out on their own. Some of them need some extra guidance and I'm just trying to open their eyes and get them thinking on their own and motivate then to start planning for their futures. Let me know if I can put some of this info in my fliers for them. Thanks.
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Joe commented on A five year plan that matters
I'm putting together a periodical newsletter fo
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DEAR BHARAT,
I BELIEVE I MET YOU AT -
sheena commented on A five year plan that matters
When I was 27, this is what I read in a book by
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http://badboyzinpoland.blogspot.com/
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marek dariusz podsiadlo commented on A five year plan that matters
haha,
Cool, Bharat, nice,Join th
Thanks Bharat. I've been wanting to hatch some plans of my own recently and that was just the encouragement I needed.