“Honest Ed” Mirvish was a Canadian businessman, philanthropist and theatrical impresario who lived in Toronto, Ontario. He is known for his flagship business, Honest Ed's, a landmark discount store in downtown Toronto, and as a patron of the arts, instrumental in revitalizing the theatre scene in Toronto. Ed was one of Canada’s most successful entrepreneurs. And yet, he was once quoted
as saying “I never had a plan for anything I did, just a feeling.” Mark Burnett, producer of a number of reality TV series including “Survivor”, subscribed to the same belief. He articulates this in his 2005 book called “Jump in Even if You Don’t Know How to Swim.”
Wouldn’t it be nice if this was a universal truth that we could all work from? Or, if your board of directors or boss was satisfied to gamble on the results this approach might deliver? Few of us have this liberty. Rather, we are expected to execute excellently which I defined in an earlier blog as “predictably getting the right thing done in the best possible way.” Plans properly laid ensure that your execution is not only predictable but done in the best way.
We must learn to set clear and actionable plans in order to ensure successful execution. Plans are not an itemized to-do list, but rather macro level steps we lay in place to bring our strategy to life. They make up the blueprint or marching orders that your team needs to guide them through the weeks, months or even years that it will take to reach a successful outcome.
Take time to build plans, and then prepare to check them regularly.