599 - Your plan is not supposed to work

I was inspired by Ahmad Munawar's post today.

Ahmad made a very simple claim, Things don’t go as planned.

He's right, and it took me years to understand that.

As soon as a plan wasn't working, I used to stop working on that plan.

It was a vicious cycle.

Or, worse yet, I would try to force the plan to work.

Anyone who has tried this knows it doesn't work.

Life and business are like an opera. I use this analogy because I played in opera for many years.

There is romance, singing, dancing, tragedy, and twisted plots where plans go awry.

Behind the scenes of an opera, there are sometimes dozens of stagehands making sure everything is running properly, that scene changes go flawlessly, and curtains rise and fall when they should.

Still further back, in the dressing rooms, there are make-up artists, singers warming up, and seamstresses working on costumes.

It's all very well planned, until it isn't...

Things go wrong, The curtain won't rise, a singer loses their voice, or a ballet dancer sprains their ankle.

All the while, the orchestra keeps playing. The music doesn't stop.

The show must go on. Business must go on. Life must go on.

Like opera, business can get messy — beautifully messy. (Look Koda August, an em dash!)

Rarely do our plans go exactly as we thought they would. If they did, everyone would be in business.

Unlike opera, business doesn't end when the fat lady sings.

Use your plan as a guide. Like the director of an opera, you must adjust your plans to have a successful performance.

Do you get irritated when your plans don't work, or do you adjust and keep moving?

#business #planning #entrepreneurship #sales #opera #equaljusticeforall