“Life is what happens to you while you’re busy making other plans.” – John Lennon
I like to do business at the speed of thought. It is not only more fun, but also reality. As an entrepreneur my instincts are to go build something or sell something quickly and get feedback from the experience right away to refine the next try. The fidelity of the experience far outweighs any theoretical planning sessions. Reality provides empirical real-time information to react to. It is the ultimate laboratory for testing ideas and making something of value work.
Your windows of opportunity in the marketplace are small. What was once impressive is now boring. Investments, software, restaurants and social media marketing all have a half-life. They don’t last. They catch fire and they flame out. Innovation is happening so quickly that it is difficult to say something that matters now will be relevant in a few years. It is life and it is happening to all of us.
Of course, short-term planning helps put some organization around us before we act. However, if we are fiddling with planning and fearfully making this our emotional savior, we miss what reality smacks of. Most of our plans are not relevant even after a short amount of time. The key is to get to action quickly and allow iteration to do its magic of enlightening us.
How perfect are your plans? Can you live with a bit of imperfect planning and more execution? Ready, Fire, Aim. It’s a brave new world.