Chris Brogan on How to Win at Planning

This is an excerpt from Chris Brogan‘s email newsletter this morning—used with his permission. I’ve been reading Chris’s stuff for at least a decade; it’s one of the few newsletters I make a point of reading regularly. You can subscribe at the link in his name.

He managed to boil down the whole planning process into just three questions. I think that’s awesome, and am pleased to share it with you. The three bullets are Chris’s writing (and then I pick up again afterward):

• What’s the story? – What are the elements I need to be thinking about in this moment, including the big and small picture, the players, the interactions at hand.
• How do I play? – What are the rules and mechanics that guide me? This is important because this is where you subtract all the “extra” stuff. How you play often has simple rules in any situation.
• How do I win? – This is strategy and approach. What will fit your time available? Where are you strongest? What’s the fastest thing you can do to accomplish the goal?

Is business success really that simple? Well, let’s just say you could spend quite a bit of time answering those three questions and then analyzing your answers. I’d see it’s at least a might good jumpstart.