Let’s be honest – no one is really in control. Life is a series of unexpected events that leave all of us disoriented at one time or another. While some events are foreseeable, the timing of those events or the probability of those events and the occurrence of unforeseen events is difficult if not impossible to forecast. Epictetus, the Greek philosopher, taught that events of life are beyond our control, but that the way we react to those events is what matters. You cannot control what happens to you, but you can control your reactions to those events.

After dinner my wife offers a thin mint from a Girl Scout Cookie package. I notice the side panel of the package stating the five essential skills learned by girls in “the largest girl-led entrepreneurial program in the world.” I read the skills, impressed that indeed these are the essential entrepreneurial skills, but also thinking that the succinct list obscures the complexity involved with mastering each task.

Businesses that make better decisions have better results. Better decisions depend on an accurate perception of reality. For the policymaker of a business there is no more important skill than perceiving reality. It is a surprisingly complex capability.

I have been involved with several businesses where I was told the owners “don’t speak to one another.” In all of these businesses, the businesses were profitable; yet those in the business felt the peril of the situation. In the event the owners would need to determine policy together, there was serious doubt as to the ability of the owners to share ideas and make decisions, especially if time would be a factor.

For the perplexed business owner, the metaphor of being lost is a good one. To examine this problem let us ask: “What does a hiker do to avoid becoming lost?”

There are reliable ways not to get lost. The hiker without a GPS but having a map and a compass before starting out can identify the starting location on the map. Also, the hiker will have a destination identified on the map. Then the hiker uses the compass to determine the direction to travel. From time to time, the hiker checks the map to identify the hiker’s location on the map, comparing geographical features on the map to those the hiker is seeing. Seems pretty obvious, doesn’t it?

Yet, I encounter business owners not sure of what they want to accomplish (no destination). I see business owners in business without knowing where they are in terms of actions taken, information about finances and markets (no map), trusting intuition (no compass), and hoping things will work out. Sometimes things do work out for a short while, but over time it does not go well because intuition combined with a lack of knowledge will not produce good decision-making. Good decision-making is the key factor in obtaining consistent successful business results. Poor results lead to disorientation and a feeling of being lost. Let us be like the hiker who does not get lost and does what needs to be done to avoid becoming lost.

“I would rather be lucky than good.” I can no longer even smile at that throwaway phrase I hear way too often. The problem is that it is impossible to be consistently lucky. You might have been lucky with early business success, but that success will fade with bad decisions.

Consistent business success requires consistent good decision-making. It takes work, attention, and focus to make good decisions. Engaging in effective planning procedures is the only way I know of to make consistently good decisions. We know we do not get it right the first time. What makes a difference is how quickly the errors are perceived and corrections made. And, because the world is constantly changing, what is correct today will be wrong tomorrow, so the process must be ongoing.

So why should people in business plan? Because it helps you make better decisions. Planning is decision-making in a structured procedure. If you do not understand how planning can help you make good decisions, then you will not prioritize planning in your schedule. Once you see that planning will help you make better decisions and thereby experience better business results, you will prioritize time for planning. The elements of a dynamic planning process that provide agility occur with the revision of the plan and format of the planning communication with decision-making groups. All of the phases of the planning cycle (articulating values, setting goals, creating an action plan, taking action, monitoring results, and revising) should be on a format meeting certain requirements. Whether it be a software program such as Teams or simply a spreadsheet, all involved should be able to see the goal, the action to be taken, and the monitoring. Since the plan most likely will not predict the future, then the revision process answers the query, “why did it not go as planned?” Those answering should be all involved in the execution of the plan – seeing the goal and the results of the action. The planning process becomes dynamic when the format of the plan – the way the plan is communicated – provides the right information to the right people to make timely decisions as they are needed.

The critical mass in the planning sequence (values, goals, action, and revision) is taking action. How often is this part of the sequence thwarted? As we know from experience, rarely do things go as planned. Yet this phase of the planning sequence is where the plan proves successful or requires revision. Something unexpected happens. The communication is flawed and the execution of the action is wrong. The consequence of the action is not what was forecast. But we owe it to the plan to do the execution of the plan as well as possible. Executing the plan as well as possible gives us the opportunity to ask, “What went wrong?” The revised plan improving the chance of realizing the business goals.

As difficult as it is to write out your values, it is also difficult to write goals from values. A goal will be a statement of where a business should be after the application of efforts toward the manifesting of the values statement. The hard work of writing a values statement is the basis for setting meaningful goals. The quality of planning decision-making is directly based on the work done with the values statement, the sharing of values among decision-makers, and the translation of those values to the real world of setting business goals.

Business owners making policy decisions are attempting to realize and experience a value proposition. Owners decide between options based on a perspective of personal values. Most business owners have not spent time thinking about their personal value systems. It is difficult to evaluate the soundness of a decision, if the value system it is to support and enforce is not clearly understood.