The fourth quarter of the year is the time to pause and do the one thing that will make 2020 a success: observe, a talent that comics like Jerry Seinfeld built into a career. What idea of ours hit the mark and landed the punchline? What hopeful plan missed expectations and fell flat? Take a look back on 2019 and make adjustments for the coming year. Planning is fun with the right approach.
Seinfeld says, “sometimes the road less traveled is less traveled for a reason.” Anything we should stop doing? What did we do that wasted time, talent or budget? What delivered the best ROI? Did we go after a bright shiny object that just wasn’t worth it?
“There’s no such thing as fun for the whole family.” Did we connect with customers, investors and referral sources? How do our employees feel about us? Just look at Glassdoor. Have we asked how we’re seen in our community and industry? What is our reputation? How can we improve next year?
“Men don’t care what’s on TV. They only care what else is on TV.” Are we being tuned out because our messages don’t resonate or perhaps we’re not hitting them on the right medium or platform? What is our unique value proposition that will engage our audience? Are we communicating an action they should take?
Here are five things to help you observe 2019 so that 2020 becomes your best year ever:
- Have the goals changed, or will they change?
- Evaluate engagement by audience: customer, board, employees, regulatory, industry, media. Rate each on a scale of 1 to 10 and determine what it would take to get them all to 10.
- Drill down into big flops — the bigger the failure, the better. Then, dissect and determine whether it was a personnel, purpose or performance failure?
- Optimize and repeat big successes.
- Brainstorm creative ideas for the coming year – big, silly, organic, riffs on old ideas. Nothing is dismissed … until we craft the plan.
I love this time of year—the sense of accomplishment in making it this far, the recognition of lessons learned and the chance for a fourth quarter sprint to bring it all home.
Looking back is looking forward. See you at the 2019 finish line.
