For many people the prospect of writing a business plan is both daunting and emotional, much like chewing aluminum foil. But there are some great positive emotional (not to mention financial) effects when a plan is written, followed, and goals achieved.To put this in perspective let me share something personal – 2008 was not such a great year. That is an understatement to many folks, but holds true in my world as well. This January while preparing for a meeting with trusted advisors where we share our business plans, I had to “go through the motions” of reviewing my own plan. And guess what? In my head I was beating myself up for not “making it happen” in 2008. But when presented with the facts, I had actually moved further than anticipated in most of my key areas. So, while my primary goal hadn’t been achieved, I had set many other goals on their heels, including writing a book!
Man, was that powerful stuff! But how did that happen, the following the plan and coming out the other end of the tunnel with no freight (read: baggage) train in sight?
I stumbled across the reason while reading Barry Schwartz’ “The Paradox of Choice – Why More is Less.” Schwartz describes a part of the decision making process which involves looking at the potential trade-offs with taking a particular route. We all know we have to look at our options in an informed manner. But selecting Option B over Option A means we think and feel that we left something behind when we didn’t choose Option A. It’s like buying a truck – I can go with a Dodge and their powerful diesel, but Ford supposedly got it together with their transmissions finally. Which one do I take and at some point down the road, literally, will I wonder if the other wasn’t best?
It leaves emotional baggage. When you look at all of your decisions and trade-offs, they all leave, to some degree, baggage which makes for negative emotions. And studies show that when people are in a negative emotional state, their decision making process is further limited, adding to the inability to get themselves out of the mess they see themselves in.
So how does the writing of a business plan help actually reduce negative emotion over the long haul? When writing a business plan and sharing it appropriately with the employees we actually reduce the need for them to evaluate trade-offs in decision making. By clarifying the objectives, strategies and tasks we reduce the amount of trade-off remorse. Which in turn reduces the negative feelings and creates a more positive atmosphere. Not to mention how happy you should all feel when the goals are met.
This is one facet of the return on investment of writing a business plan. If you would like help or need more information, feel free to contact me.
Bart Gragg
925.757.7473
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