Joe Strategy

I love to read about people and companies that have succeeded by being unconventional.  37Signals is one such company that has reached the pinnacle of success by doing things their own way.  They have millions of users, have made millions of dollars and are revered by the technology community and thought leaders like Seth Godin. 

The owners of 37 Signals recently published Rework, a book that outlines their world view of business.  Anyone who follows the Company knows that part of their approach/strategy is to be provocative; they embrace the path less traveled and like to turn conventional wisdom on its head.  They see value in picking fights with competitors, embracing work/life balance and sadly, they shun planning.

In Rework an entire chapter (about 1 ½ pages) is dedicated to the topic of planning as guessing.  As 37Signals sees it, planning is nothing more than guesses, so why take waste your time guessing? As they note, “make decisions right before you do something, not far in advance”. I couldn’t agree more and if they left it at that I could agree with them.   Unfortunately, when people try to be provocative they can also end up becoming hypocritical if they are not careful; in the case of Rework, the authors have been hypocritical about planning because they actually promote planning within the book:

• Page 56; a business without a path to profits isn’t a business
• Page 59; you need a commitment strategy, not an exit strategy

 I may be a bit naive and not quite understand what I am reading, but I am assuming that “path to profit” and a “commitment strategy” would both be considered plans of some type and likely long-term plans.  Given that, I was surprised when I read that one of the things that should be avoided are things like “long-term road maps” (page 62). Either I misunderstood what they were saying, or they are confused about planning. In all likelihood, it’s the latter.

I’m picking on 37Signals because as bright and successful as the Company and its owners are, even they misunderstand planning. Unfortunately, most people misunderstand it, which is why it’s easy for people to bash it; misunderstood things are easy targets and planning is probably one of the most misunderstood elements of business. 

The reason for this can be traced to the very definition of the word plan: – a detailed proposal for detailing and doing something.  You should plan what you are going to do today or this week, not what you should do a year from now.  37Signals is right – a business plan or strategic plan that looks out for a long-period of time is a guess so why waste your time with it.

However, businesses need to be looking out long-term; they need to know what the path to profits is and they need to know what they are committed to.  The problem we face in communicating this is that the term planning, as historically defined doesn’t work for this necessary exercise.  Sadly, given its ubiquity we appear to be stuck with it.  Therefore, we are left with one option – we need to redefine the term “planning”.

And, that is what this site is about.  Joe Strategy isn’t about promoting strategic or business planning as we know it; it’s about changing the conversation and the perception of what planning is. It’s about identifying the best way for businesses to plan so they can create their path to profits and know what they and their organization are committed to.  It’s about helping businesses defining the outcomes they want to achieve, no matter how big or small.

As I write this blog, I hope you will join me in providing your ideas about how to accomplish this.