Quick and Nimble: Third Blog Post

What is a simple plan? Well, in the next chapter of Bryant's "Quick and Nimble" he shares CEO'S experience with the idea of a simple plan and what it means for different business today. Bryant starts off with an interview that he had with Jet Blue’s CEO, David Barger. Barger says immediately how important and essential it is to have a clear idea of the direction your company is headed in. Barger explains, many companies when they first start out get ahead of themselves, and look at the big picture. They forget to take a step back and remind themselves of the goals they want to accomplish, and what steps they will need to accomplish those goals. I could not agree more with Bryant.

I have even had experience with this so-called “simple plan” in our class. When we started our senior projects I was unclear and a little bit confused on exactly what I was doing. Yes I knew that I was taking pictures of residents for ID Cards and a residential book, but I did not know the process, and how I would accomplish this goal. When I saw the documents that we had to write up I began to feel anxious, because I did not have a simple plan. It felt that this idea I had, was thrown all over the place, and I did not have a clear starting point, middle point, or ending point. Luckily, the documents had questions specifically geared to help me. Otherwise, without a simple plan, the process would have been out of control and disorganized. Simple plan’s shape business and goals and without them one could be a mess. “You have to be able to simplify things that are complex. At the end of the day, if the thirteen thousand people on the front lines don’t understand what you’re trying to do, forget it. You don’t stand a chance of making it work”- David Barker (34). This is one of my favorite quotes from this chapter, because it is spot on. A business can't go anywhere without a clear focus, and most importantly it won’t go anywhere if people don’t know what that clear focus is. Bryant explains, in large companies many people have different goals and it can be exhausting and frustrating trying to get everyone on the same page. He says, some people have different visions for the company, or believes it serves, and different values than the CEO’S etc. Fortunately he says this can all be avoided. It can all be avoided if a CEO develops a simple plan and or mission when starting the company. If everyone is aware of the simple plan and mission it’s simple.

I know I had trouble making my senior project seem “simple.” I even thought it was complex. I am fortunate that Lindsey and I were able to work together and develop a simple plan that allowed us to tackle our project, without too many difficulties.

I am starting to really get into this book, I can relate to mostly everything it talks about, and I like reading about the different feedback the CEO’s give!!