Here are critical questions you can ask when you have finished your analysis and are trying to set the goals. Begin with this fundamental question—Why do we want to accomplish this goal?—then ask the other seven questions:
1. Attainability. Can the desired end product really be accomplished or achieved now that I have looked at all the facts and figures?
2. Management Ability. Will it be possible for the company to build a series of actions and decisions over the lifespan of the plan to complete the goal?
3. Products, Goods, and Services. Do we have enough of each to reach the goals?
4. Core Competencies. Are we skilled enough to reach the goals? What skills will we need in the future that we don’t have now?
5. Intellectual Capital. Do we have the native intelligence to reach our goals? Are we using all the “smarts” of our people? What will we have to change to increase our usage of intellectual capital?
6. Work Ethic. Are we willing to work hard, make the extra effort, and commit 110 percent to reaching our goals? Isn’t it just easier to stay in the comfortable middle than to put all this energy into big, bold goals?
7. Market Potential. Is the existing market big enough to allow us to reach our dollar requirements? How do we get more market share?
If the answers to these central questions are yes, then your plan is on track. If the answers are no, then you have another series of problems. If you answered no, you must go back through the planning process to resolve the problems. A number of possible solutions exist:
- Reexamine your assumptions. Have you mixed facts with assumptions? By changing your assumptions you may change your goals.
- Revisit your mission statement. Look carefully at your specified task and the implied tasks. Is your mission still valid or did you miss the basic question—What business am I in?
- Reexamine your data. Are you looking at real data or emotional positions?