Happy New Year!
A while back, we discussed the 3 reasons why your company will fail without a mission statement. Though all true and essential, it was a little scary and sought to grab your attention by using the ‘f’ word.
Now let’s talk about this important issue with a positive twist: “focus insurance.”
We have had the incredible good fortune (mostly because we have eaten our own cooking on this whole mission thing!) of not only having great clients but having great repeat clients. As a matter of course, these repeat clients are repeat clients because they moved from our Basic Service offering (the strategic planning session) to the Core Service (implementation of the strategic plan).
In order to ensure that the plan remains relevant and fresh, each year we reconvene all parties involved and “refresh” the plan. This has the following benefits:
The mission, vision, and values can be “pounded on” to make sure that they are relevant and appropriate – after all, if these are your guide rails, we better make sure they are solid and will hold when tested!
Strategic objectives can be evaluated – those completed can be celebrated; those delayed can be scrutinized to determine if they still belong on the list and, if so, where; new objectives can be identified, added and prioritized.
The 5 year pro-forma can be reviewed and a new 5-year look can be cast.
What does all of this have to do with “focus insurance”?
When you go through this exercise periodically, it’s like weeding your garden and then staying on it periodically. Little weeds (i.e., deviations from the plan or errors) can be pulled when they are young and tender – and before they turn into gargantuan vines of kudzu! Likewise, those things that were determined to be central to the fulfillment of your organization (e.g., debt reduction, growth into a new market, adding a new practice area, etc.) can be vetted and reinforced.
It’s January and the start of a new year – are your “focus insurance” premiums paid up?