Realizing Opportunities - Why Fixed Goals and Rigid Plans Make Companies Blind

Rigid structures and plans block the view of real opportunities for most companies in high market dynamics. Fixed plans and targets also make organizations almost immune to reacting to changing conditions. They are part of the success recipes of the past and are today more of a hindrance in the backpacks of companies. But what are better guidelines for projects in uncertainty? Fair-weather window for your company When I was in the French Western Alps for the first time at the age of 19, my climbing partner Sepp and I planned to do easier routes. However, we quickly realized during the first climb that we were much better than we thought. And then we also found out that no one had managed to climb the North Face of the Grandes Jorasses that summer—our big dream! The opportunity scenario was also there: the weather forecast was good for a solid four days in a row. We threw our original plan overboard and packed our backpacks for the Grandes Jorasses tour on the same day. Many companies struggle with such a flexible approach. They are stuck in old thinking: first, a fixed goal is needed, ideally formulated in a SMART manner. Then a plan is made and a detailed roadmap is created. Usually, so much time passes that new conditions, opportunities, and expectations have already emerged in dynamic markets. During implementation, attempts are made to close the inevitable gaps between actual and target, which usually does not work (and more often, no longer makes sense). The problem is not so much the lack of implementation of the original plan: with such a rigid and planned approach, you will not realize your greatest opportunities. Your company increasingly aligns itself with internal targets, milestones, and result agreements—to not disappoint the team, to please the boss, and to receive a bonus. The opportunities that arise along the way due to external changes are thus overlooked—consciously or unnoticed.

Who sees opportunities does not need a plan

You need an open view of your external environment, of what is happening around your company, in order to even perceive your opportunities—your fair-weather windows. When you see your opportunities, please do not immediately fall back into the old mindset of defining new rigid goals and plans. Instead, create a direction corridor for action based on your opportunities. Define minimum target requirements for your project and group the opportunities around this core of minimum requirements—I call this an opportunity cloud. This way, you create orientation and a direction in which you and your team can embark with enthusiasm and commitment, even without complete information. You take the first step and only then evaluate your insights, which you then use to start the next stage—without a grand master plan and fixed target agreement. On the first day, we quickly reached the point where everyone else had turned back. There was so much ice and snow on the wall that not a single hook was visible. Goodbye, beautiful new chance? No. There were still opportunities: they only became visible when we had the courage to take the next step and continue upwards. In constant uncertainty, yes—but through this probing and exploring action, we repeatedly found opportunities that we would have never discovered through planning or analyzing. Courage for "planlessness"? On the third day, we were at the top. Even though we had never come with the plan to climb the North Face of the Grandes Jorasses. Simply because we had spontaneously seized emerging opportunities. This willingness to change and agility is what companies need in uncertainty. Dare to forge your plans in a different way and remain flexible! By following your corridor of opportunities, you automatically keep your eyes open for opportunities on the right and left sides of the road, instead of stubbornly working towards a—perhaps already obsolete—goal. *** Find more information about our Top 100 Speaker Rainer Petek HERE   Article on the topic "Opportunities"