Has it ever struck you as odd that you never see an ad for an ad agency? Why is that?

Similarly it’s rare to find a fund manager who invests in their own managed fund. (Don’t get me started on this one.)

And more to the point management consultants don’t create their own business plans.

The reason for all three is basically the same - advertising is largely ineffective, managed funds underperform the market and business plans don’t work.

A business plan that sets out 5-year growth targets with a month-by-month budget is a fantasy. There are way too many assumptions that can never be tested in advance. As a tool for raising funds a business plan might work. For running a large organisation, a small business or a practice it’s mostly a waste of time, effort, and countless reams of paper.

An implementation plan on the other hand says we are going to implement 20 great projects in this direction over the next 3 years. We expect 10 of them to fail. Currently we only know what 5 of the 20 are.

And the strategy? That’s determined by looking back and identifying which of the projects worked.

It’s what we teach Thought Leaders to do in their practices – implement profitable projects rather than create a business plan. And I reckon it’s the go for businesses too.

Love to hear your thoughts and experiences. What does your implementation plan look like? You can leave your comments below.