Byron B. Warnken's Blog

Business Planning - SMART Method

I am thinking about business planning for 2008.  We probably should have done this a month ago, but, as always, things get in the way.

I have come across the SMART method and now I need to think about how it relates to us.

S:    Specific

Although we will start with an overall vision and lead it to mission statement, with respect to goals we need to be specific.  Get more business is not enough.  Continue to grow is not enough.  Maintain a top three position in our industry.  Be known for great customer service.  Equal our top competitor in customer service quality and response time.

M:    Measurable

We exist in an industry with only private companies.  Therefore, a top three position is not measurable for certain.  Neither is great customer service or being equal to our top competitor in this area.   However, just because your vision and "specific" goal doesn't equal measurable doesn't mean you need to find a new goal - it simply means finding a new way to make it measurable.

We are in Internet marketing.

• CS Email response time.
• Search engine rankings
• Forum posts - by us and by others about us
• Overall customer count broken out amongst various product segments
• New initiative roll out time

A:    Attainable

One should not pursue goals that are easily achieved. One must develop an instinct for what one can barely achieve through one's greatest efforts. - Albert Einstein

They key is to not set the bar too low.  We should rather set it very high and miss by a little than set it too low and lose motivation somewhere along the line.  However, incremental goals, which must also be part of the plan, must be relatively sure attains.

The next R is relevant, but it could also be realistic.  We aren't going to master everything tomorrow.  Constant progress not just in hitting goals, but in improving our process and outlook is a must.

R:    Relevant

Relevant actually is realistic to some degree.  We must focus on what we do well.  Our goals must be aligned with what we are doing now.  There is no need to veer off unnecessarily. 

This isn't to say new ventures, new products, or new business lines aren't important or shouldn't be part of an overall plan.  It is simply to state that goals for those things should be relevant just to them.  Goals for specific areas of the business should stay within their area.  Once each is defined, it can be put together with a SWOT analysis to determine which has priority and where resources should be allocated.  Then, the list of goals can be redefined in order to help out the relevant and attainable pieces. 

T:    Time Based

Without a due date for both overall, and for incremental pieces, a goal might as well be a dream.

Is this really the last season of The Wire?

Well, that's what they say.  And I, for one, have no doubt that it's true.  Homicide, The Corner, The Wire.  David Simon is a master.

But with all due respect David...Fuck You!

You don't take the greatest piece of television ever produced and end it early just to "go out on top."  Who invented that "go out on top anyway"?  Probably a Giants fan too upset with Willie Mays's last years with the Mets.

You, like you have stated in interviews, believe you've shined a light on what others refuse to acknowledge.  The farce that is the drug war.  A dying industry and a dying working man.  The corruption that is local politics.  How a broken educational system contributes to urban decay.

Now we find out how the media plays into this story.  It's The Wire on HBO.  You invented it, but it's not yours anymore.  It's ours.  Those who it moves.  I am so moved by your work I think of leaving my gravy life in Minnesota to go back my hometown.  Charm City.  Bodymore, Murderland.

We're less than a decade away from President of the United States Tommy Carcetti.  (I know, it's not really O'Malley.)  Another 291 Baltimore Murders in 07.  The ghetto moves out, my wealthy young professional peers move back in.  They rebuild, but at what cost? 

My mom still narcans people in the ER everyday.

Maybe it's the real cost of urban renaissance.  Maybe it's the Baltimore Hispanic community.  Maybe the Russians.  The Baltimore Jewish population.  I spent a dozen years in Pikesville.  You know there are plenty of stories there that come right back to your story lines.

Or maybe its the difference between the haves and the have nots.  Or maybe you show me the side where people make it out alive.  A season of recovery.  From drugs, from money problems, from crime.  Whatever.

You don't start telling the story of urban America, the only story that has ever really gotten it right on a major stage, then stop.   You owe me more.   You want my help, sure.  Just ask.  But you owe me more. You owe Baltimore more.  You owe yourself more.

But most importantly, you owe the real people you are telling the story for more.  You've given a voice to those who have never had one.  They may not ever again.

Thanks for listening David.  Sorry about the Fuck You.
Byron Warnken