How 90-day planning changes EVERYTHING!

I have recently been talking to a number of for-purpose leaders about their strategy and planning process. Most have a great vision, a five-year plan, even a detailed one-year plan, but they and their teams were struggling to keep these in focus.

There was a BIG gap between these beautifully written strategy documents and their day-to-day actions.

When I asked if they did 90-day planning, the answer was no.

Most people I talk to are in the same boat. They have the big picture strategy but don’t pause to focus on the shorter term.  

We polled our audience on Linkedin to find out if people did regular strategy checkins and 90-day planning (our team may have skewed the “Yes - and it’s great!” responses a tad…). 

While 48% of respondents did do a regular strategy check-in (woohoo!), 40% said they just don’t have the time. 

In the for-purpose world, strategy and getting focused is something we HAVE to make time for. 

It’s not a nice to have, it’s a must have. 

When we don’t pause long enough to focus and get realigned to the things that matter most, we risk not creating the impact and the changes our causes need. 

Quarterly planning is so powerful

As humans, there is a natural phenomenon where we begin to stumble, get off track and lose focus roughly every 90 days (Gino Wickman’s book, Traction, highlighted this for me). 

When we first write our strategic plans, it initially helps us focus as a team on our goals, but the more time passes the more things start to fragment. We get far off track and lose sight of the vision. Instead of taking that direct, fastest road, our teams can start to wander off on scenic routes – which takes away our focus.

The result: we end up spending way more time getting to where we want to go - getting to the end of the year without the progress we wanted.

Introducing a 90-day world

To address this aspect of human nature, I recommend creating a 90-day world in which you and your team come together every 90 days to set the priorities that everyone is going to work on.

Over the past few years, the team at Do Good Jobs have embraced the power of the 90-day planning world (it’s actually a highlight of my calendar!). It’s a time to come together (usually in person as much of our work is remote) to celebrate the 90 days that have been and make a plan for the next 90 days that pulls from our 12-month goals and bigger vision: to help more people to thrive.

“Screw the how for now”
Just focus on the next 90 days

I’m not sure where I picked up this great line, but I use it ALL the time in my coaching and courses when it comes to long-term planning, and it is

 “Screw the how for now”.

When we start to look at the 12-month strategy and goals, they can quickly leave us feeling overwhelmed by the monumental task ahead. There is a natural tendency to want to get into the how and ALL the details, and we often get bogged down by this kind of thinking.

Knowing the details is our brain's way of keeping us safe and also reassuring ourselves that the goals we have set are possible. But what often happens is we make a big plan for a longer time period, figure out all the “hows” and then things shift. We don’t get the results we hoped and we have to adjust our plans.

When we look at the how, we also tend to tone down our goals in order to make them realistic and doable, based on our present state, not the future we really want.

When we instead focus on the HOW just for the next 90 days, we can get a really clear picture of what needs to happen to move us forward toward our bigger goals. And if it doesn’t, we can iterate and change how we approach things to get to the bigger goal in the next 90 days and then the next 90 days.

So a reminder, when you start thinking about your next year's plans (especially if your financial year is 31 March), screw the how for now. Dream about that big impact, and then get to work figuring out JUST the first 90 days to make this happen!

Add the rocks first

A frequently used metaphor for prioritisation is the example of trying to fit big rocks, pebbles, and sand into an empty jar. Have you heard it before?

If you start by adding sand to a jar first, then pebbles, you will not have room for rocks.

• The big rocks symbolise the things that are the most important in your workload. 

• The pebbles are everything of medium importance. 

• And, the sand is all the small things that are not that important in moving your work forward (but is what many of us tend to get stuck doing day-to-day).

The lesson? if you don’t put the big rocks in the jar first, they won't fit in later. 

When we fill our time with the little, unimportant things, we leave very little time for the things that actually matter.  

“When everything is a priority, nothing is a priority”.

Put differently, you need to schedule the big, important things first, then fill in the remaining time gaps with less important and less urgent to-dos.

So for those who voted in our poll that they didn’t have the time for 90-day planning, I can hazard a guess that it is very likely they are filling their time with the sand – leaving no room for the rocks. The result being your impact is probably diluted.

We need to identify the rocks every 90 days and get them in the jar before the rest.

90 days is a game changer

In summary:

• 90-day planning helps keep you focused and avoids that natural phenomenon where we tend to get off track. It brings the team onto the same path.

• It helps reduce the overwhelm of the longer-term, bigger picture by breaking it down into smaller chunks. Screw the how for the longer term and just focus on the short-term baby steps, and be open to adjust and iterate down the line as needed.

• It helps you prioritise the handful of rocks for the next 90 days and avoid that sand from swallowing up your time….

• It’s been a game-changer for the way we work at Do Good Jobs, and I know it can be a game-changer for you too.

Through my coaching, I have worked one on one with for-purpose leaders, and I've seen firsthand how a 90-day approach helps SO many take action towards achieving the impact and change they want.

90-day planning plays a core part of the Do Good Jobs Coaching Head, Heart, Hand framework, with the heart and head pillars focusing on strategy, the tools and ways of working to move you forward faster.

If you are serious about setting yourself and your organisation up for an impactful year (and quarter!), we need to focus on the next 90 days and get support to identify those rocks you need to prioritise first.

If you feel like you could use some extra support to progress towards your goals, consider booking a free discovery call with me to chat about how 1:1 coaching could help and if it might be the right fit for you. Book here.

Investing in yourself and your strategy will ensure you keep on track to your destination - where you make an impact on the people or things you are here to serve.