Harvesting the tree

When starting a new project or program or enterprise, what advice do people give? Often they’ll say, “Start with the low-hanging fruit.”

Ironically – or maybe not – this highly contagious cliché was incubating right around the time that a much more structured planning methodology had crescendo’ed its way into the mainstream: our old friend, the SWOT Analysis.       

When was the first time you conducted a SWOT Analysis? If memory services, I first drew that iconic matrix, subdivided into quadrants labeled Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats way back in B-School at the University of Florida. It was all hypothetical at the time, of course, and probably executed in haste as a part of some insidious group project in an upper level management course.

Now, on the second anniversary of starting my business, I've turned again to SWOT. I plotted the heck out of my efforts to date, the lessons learned, knowledge gained, market conditions and trends, and my effectiveness as the leader of my own destiny.

Then I added a step. 

Read the rest of the story: unplainjanestudio.com/blog

#entrepreneurship #leadership #planning #SWOT #business #management