To Plan or not to plan...

There is so much talk in January about goals, intentions and making lists and I've definitely done this myself in the past.  I'm stuck between two mindsets with this.  I am so much more accepting of who I am, warts and all but I also do believe in having a bit of focus gets you a long way.

Business

From a business perspective, work has been a busy time, we are officially in our 4th quarter, our business year runs from April-March. There has been a lot of planning going on within our Product team to work out what we can achieve over the next year 2023-2024.  

Every company is different on how they plan their company goals and vision and how that over-arching roadmap is aligned with the business strategy.  I’ve seen some great ways of doing it, and some bad ways of doing it over the years

My view, which I was discussing with a colleague only last week is you need a mixture of Product/Company Strategy - how do you achieve growth from consumers as a business and also a way to keep the lights on.  And what I mean by that, is it's all very well going after shiny new products with more features and on more platforms, but that doesn’t work out so well if you can’t maintain a base level of good customer service/process and design with your current product and systems.

Everything ties back to the customer, how they use your product, their experience, their retention and lifespan in using your product and so ensuring you have a good service and you are optimizing what you currently have is key.  To me it's the utopia….I know that's sometimes hard to get that balance right with budgets and people, but as a product led organisation its where companies should be heading.

Personal

Then there are the new year intentions, new you, things you want to strive for.  Interestingly I spent New Years Eve with a group of friends twice in a row and we all went round the table and used a focus word for the year.  Mine was to be able to get some sleep last year which we found hilarious as I had a 6 month old baby at the chime of 2022 - obviously I didn’t achieve that 🙂

I feel there is a resistance this year to anyone putting too much pressure on themselves and I do agree.  We have all collectively been through a lot, with 2 years of the pandemic, difficulties with work, finances, immense loss. So to put yet more restrictions on ourselves when a lot of us are just trying to get by, would seem insane.

But I do think having a little focus on where you might like to be next year is always healthy.  I'm not going to make any great declarations, as I have a big year coming up with a lot of change.  For me, I would like to navigate it all with as much ease as possible.  Be healthy, be present, and have fun.

Happy New year to you, hope it sparkles!