September 22, 2011

The 1 Hour Plan for Growth

Joe Calhoon

How a Single Sheet of Paper Can Take Your Business to the Next Level

2011 by Joe Calhoon Adapted by permission of John Wiley & Sons, Inc. ISBN-13: 978-0-470-88096-8

Introduction
Business planning documents are often too long, unclear, and uninspiring. However, in The 1 Hour Plan for Growth, Joe Calhoon proposes a method for developing a business growth plan in one hour that can be written on a single sheet of paper. During the process, business leaders must ask themselves where they want their businesses to go, analyze the current status of their business, and consider how they will bridge the difference between the two states. The book is a call for business managers to leadin their organizations and in their lives. The planning process attempts to narrow the gap between the way companies perform and the way business leaders would like them to perform. It also helps readers plan to change how they live their lives to make them reflect on how they would like to live them. According to Calhoon, the future depends on strong leadership from businesspeople who invest their energy to grow better businesses, create more jobs, and provide greater value for the community.

A Call to Lead
Leaders are finding that their roles are becoming much more challenging. The need for strong, effective, and moral leadership has never been greater, especially in business. For our society to be successful in the future, businesspeople must answer the call to lead, to envision a better future, and work with others to make that vision come to life. Growing a business can provide several benefits, such as greater job security, increased personal wealth, more value for customers, and more jobs. To ensure their businesses are growing, business leaders need an effective growth planning system. Calhoon provides a path for businesses to achieve growth. However, when business leaders develop an extraor-

Business Book Summaries September 22, 2011 Copyright 2011 EBSCO Publishing Inc. All Rights Reserved

The 1 Hour Plan for Growth

Joe Calhoon

dinary business without living an extraordinary life, they miss out on so much. Therefore, before explaining his method, Calhoon detours the readers journey in order to put the plan in perspective, sharing ideas that help business leaders live a better life and build a better business at the same time. The work most people accomplish is just one segment among many that make up the balance of their lives. Business and work activities must be balanced with other parts of life and kept in proper perspective. Business leaders who build a better life have a greater capacity to build a better business. Additionally, as they build a better business, they have more financial resources to enjoy a better life. Calhoon suggests that to build a better life, people should (1) identify their calling, (2) develop their capacity, and (3) use their unique strengths and passions to contribute to others lives. Identify a calling: Each person has unique strengths and a particular passion that usually points to his or her ideal vocation. Top people in organizations usually rise there by identifying their strengths and focusing their efforts in areas they can most effectively contribute. It is also important for business leaders to identify what they are passionate about in their vocation, or what makes them come alive when at work. Proactively combining strengths and passion can lead a business leader to the right vocation. Develop capacities: The extent that business leaders can contribute and be rewarded in life is determined by their capacities. When any one capacity in neglected or distressed, a business leader can veer from his path, losing energy, drive, or zeal. The following capacities are important factors in a business leaders ability to perform: Physical capacity. Stay healthy, maintain good nutrition, and keep physically active. Mental capacity. Set realistic learning goals, sustain motivation, and develop new knowledge. Spiritual capacity. Nurture the spiritual and moral aspects of life that help develop extraordinary character. Relational capacity. Develop people skills and learn how to relate well to others.

Key Concepts
The 1 Hour Plan for Growth offers a method for developing a business growth plan in one hour that can be written on a single sheet of paper. The process includes: Developing a vision statement that is measurable, achievable, and inspiring. Defining a mission statement that explains the unique contribution that the organization makes to its customers lives. Establishing the organizations values and standards of behavior. Creating measurable and well-defined objectives that will help it measure its success and organizational performance. Analyzing the big issues that must be addressed. Distinguishing and focusing on a few strategies that will make the most significant impact on its future. Setting priorities, which might include goals that the company wants to achieve, problems that it wants solved, or capacities that it wants to develop. After the business growth plan is complete, business leaders usually develop action plans that help them achieve priorities.
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Information about the author and subject: www.joecalhoon.com Information about this book and other business titles: www.wiley.com Related summaries in the BBS Library: When Growth Stalls How It Happens, Why Youre Stuck & What to Do About It Steve McKee

Business Book Summaries September 22, 2011 Copyright 2011 EBSCO Publishing Inc. All Rights Reserved

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The 1 Hour Plan for Growth

Joe Calhoon

Financial capacity. Learn to live well within ones means and manage money wisely.

take the time to plan. Most companies conduct a long, time-consuming planning effort that involves

Contribute to others: Business Why should you create a business growth plan? Before you leaders should consider how go on a trip, you determine your destination and plan out the they can give in different aspects of their lives: in business, in fami- best route. The clearer and more exciting your destination, the lies, and in communities. Giving greater the likelihood you will have a successful and enjoycan take the form of service, able journey. Unfortunately, most businesses lack the joy and financial assistance, encourageenergy that comes with having an inspiring destination for their ment, knowledge, forgiveness, energy, or other gifts. Business people[W]ithout planning, you lose more than an inspiring leaders can improve the qual- goal. ity of their lives as they focus on few people and produces a plan that sits on the shelf making contributions to others lives. without actually impacting organizational perforThe One-Hour Plan mance. Calhoon offers his planning methodology to Effective planning strengthens a businesss people, overcome some of these typical problems with planproductivity, and profitability, yet few companies ning. Businesses that use his method engage their employees, investing only hours rather than weeks in developing a single-sheet plan, which they use to keep themselves on track and help set, achieve, and celebrate their priorities more efficiently.

About the Author

During the past 25 years, Joe Calhoon has delivered more than 2,500 experiences to over 500 organizationsproviding tools and guidance needed to develop higher performing organizations. His proven process for business growth has allowed clients to significantly increase revenues in one year. Calhoons clients include a wide range of small and mid-size organizations as well as Fortune 100 companies. As a Certified Speaking Professional (CSP), designated through the National Speakers Association, Calhoon communicates the principles and practices of leadership effectiveness and organizational performance with an entertaining, educational, and inspirational style. During the 1990s, Calhoon was one of the most requested and highest rated keynote speakers with the FranklinCovey Co. He knows the importance of synergy, communication, and effectiveness and brings this experience to every client interaction. Calhoon is the president of PriorityAdvantage and has co-authored other books on business growth.

Calhoons process involves three steps: (1) identify the vision, mission, and objectives of the business, (2) assess the current status of the business, and (3) create strategies, set priorities, and develop action plans to move the business from the present to the planned future. Business leaders should involve their teams in the planning process to ensure they are involved and committed to the fulfilling the plan. The plan does not have to be complicated; Calhoon suggests six planning elements distributed across three time frames: Long term (5 to 25 years): These elements create a foundation upon which the rest of the plan rests. Businesses should develop a vision to inspire the company, develop a mission to define the companys purpose, and develop shared values to set the standard of behavior so employees enjoy working together. Mid-term (1 to 3 years): Businesses should develop growth-focused objectives to help measure their success, as well as develop strategies to determine which categories of work need to be done. Short term (30 to 90 days): Businesses should establish priorities to help define problems to be solved, goals to be achieved, and capacities to be
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Business Book Summaries September 22, 2011 Copyright 2011 EBSCO Publishing Inc. All Rights Reserved

The 1 Hour Plan for Growth

Joe Calhoon

developed. Priorities define who does what and by what date. Businesses can use six proven planning steps to take their organization to the next level: 1. Develop a business growth plan that fits on one sheet of paper. 2. Prioritize tasks to be accomplished in 30 to 90 days. 3. After 30 to 90 days, celebrate progress, review the plan, and establish new priorities for the next 30 to 90 days.

The vision statement, at this point, is good enough for initial planning steps and can be refined later. Businesses can determine if they have an effective vision statement if it contains a measurable goal, such as gross revenue levels, profit goals, or customer satisfaction measures. The vision statement should also be achievablechallenging, but not impossible. Vision statements should also meet three criteria: (1) it should define what the business does best, (2) it should describe what the organization is passionate about, and (3) it should drive the organizations financial performance.

After developing a vision statement, each business should define its mission statementa clear and compelling statement of why the organization exists. A good mission statement defines the unique contri5. After one year, develop a new business growth bution that the organization makes to its customers plan that fits on one sheet of paper. lives. As a powerful statement of the organizations 6. Repeat the prioritization and review processes purpose, the mission statement tells employees and (steps 2 through 5). customers why the organization A single sheet of paper is enough to describe your organizations does what it does. It motivates the businesss staff by defining the Vision, Mission, Values, Objectives, and Strategies, plus help value the organization provides to focus an individuals Priorities. its customers. Moreover, it keeps everyone focused on what is most importantserving customers. Too often, people Developing Vision, Mission, describe an organizations mission as making money and Objectives for the owner. However, people are beginning to Each organization should develop a concise word realize that the mission of every successful company picture of its ideal future. This vision should be should be to serve customers. measurable, achievable, and inspiring. The vision Mission statements often reflect the spiritual beliefs communicates what the organization wants to of the business leaders or owners. The statement become by providing the criteria for strategic decision incorporates their highest aspirations and holds them making, the inspiration for higher levels of contribuaccountable to live up to their statement; to do othtion and performance, and a compass that points the erwise would be hypocritical. Successful business business in the right direction. leaders are committed to ensure that the businesss Businesses can develop their visions by answering the vision, mission, and values became an integral part of following questions: the organizations culture. How good does the business want its organization When a business has defined its vision and mission to be? statements, the next step is to define the organizations What does the business provide in terms of servaluesthose standards of behavior and code of convices or products? duct that help teams enjoy working together. When senior leaders display the values in their behavior and Which customers and markets does the business attitudes, they help integrate the values into the orgaserve? nizational culture. What is the geographic scope of the business? 4. Continue this process every 30 to 90 days until the end of the year.
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The 1 Hour Plan for Growth

Joe Calhoon

Leaders should hold themselves and their employees accountable to the organizations values. Wise leaders develop the talents of their employees and empower them to bring value to others. Business leaders who serve their employees needs more then their own are more likely to retain their best employees. The organizations values provide a foundation that helps organizational members prevent and resolve interpersonal issues. They also create a high-trust, high-performing culture, becoming the basis for building strong relationships both inside and outside the organization.

on a few strategies that will make the most significant impact on its future. An organization can start the process by identifying five to ten major issues that it must address in order to grow its business; then, it can rank them in order of importance. Next, a business should list each of those issues in one of eight strategy categories: Human resources Physical resources Financial resources Innovation

With the vision and mission statements and a descrip Marketing and sales tion of its values in place, the business must define Productivity/delivery the objectives that will help it measure its success Profit requirements and organizational performance. Objectives provide a balanced set of measures that help business lead Social responsibility ers take their business to the next level. They define targets Effective leaders understand the vital importance of objectives. for future growth and stimulate What gets measured gets doneThe importance of strategies is higher achievement levels. They validated by a Harvard University study...[which] found that also provide reasons to celebrate when goals have been accom- having clearly defined, well-communicated strategies is the plished. most important element of business success. Writing objectives involves three simple steps: (1) Businesses should determine what they want to measure, (2) how they want to measure it, and then (3) set the actual objective. For example, an organization might want to measure its market share by determining the percentage of business it receives from the total business conducted in its market area. It might set its objective at 60 percent. Then, businesses need to design their incentive programs to support the vision, mission, and values of their organizations. Behaviors that support the goals of the organization need to be rewarded, and rewarded consistently. Wise business leaders do not promote one type of behavior with value statements and then reward other types of behavior. From these categories, the organization can establish priorities for objectives. An example of the process would include an identification of issues in the physical resources category, such as inadequate technology, lack of proper equipment, and underutilized space. The physical resources strategy might be: to equip people with the tools to succeed by providing appropriate technology, equipment, and better space utilization. Based on the issues, the organization might set some priority objectives, such as: the IT Manager will make recommendations regarding technology upgrades within four weeks, the Facilities Manager will redesign and reorganize the office space to better utilize space within three weeks, and the Purchasing Manager will obtain a new space-efficient printer within 2 weeks. Good business leaders are those who can focus on the few things that will have the greatest impact on improving their businesses. Strategies are the most important element of a business growth plan, which is the reason many of these plans are called strategic plans. They provide a pathway for
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Creating Strategies, Setting Priorities, and Developing Action Plans

After a business defines its vision, mission, values, and objectives, it needs to assess the current state of the organization and determine the big issues that must be addressed. The activity of identifying these critical areas leads a business to distinguish and focus

Business Book Summaries September 22, 2011 Copyright 2011 EBSCO Publishing Inc. All Rights Reserved

The 1 Hour Plan for Growth

Joe Calhoon

leaders to reach their visions and fulfill their missions. To define a strategy, business leaders can refer to their list of strategy categories and the issues within them. Then, they can clearly define what they want to accomplish in that categorylike a mini-vision statement. With this end in mind, business leaders define their strategic choices and how they will accomplish them. For example, a business leader might examine the issues in the human resources strategy area. He or she might have the following end in mind: build a high performance team. Using the words by or through, he or she completes the entire strategy statement, which becomes Build a high performance team through hiring. Following this process for the five to ten goals that he or she wants to accomplish in each strategy category, a business leader can quickly develop strategies that become part of his or her business growth plan.

ment in order to serve customers efficiently and effectively. Business leaders should invest wisely in physical resources to enhance the customer experience. Financial resources. Business leaders need to develop a strong relationship with a bank. In some cases, the organization is a good candidate for seeking investments from private investors, private equity funding, or venture capital. Business leaders should obtain a convenient, affordable line of credit to prepare for tougher times when adversity might strike. Innovation. Without innovation, a business ceases to exist. Business leaders who want to develop and implement an innovation strategy should consider how they can improve their products and/or services and how they can develop new ones. Innovation involves shifting to plan. So, why economic resources out of an area that was too short. of lower productivity into an area of higher productivity and yield. Marketing and sales. Both marketing and sales efforts create an expectation of some sort of benefit for the customer. Business leaders developing marketing and sales strategies should determine their ideal customer, the value the company provides to that customer, and how the value will be delivered. Having an accurate and up-to-date customer database is important. Strategies in this area should also focus on what the company promises to the customerits brand messageand which channels are used to communicate with the customer.

It takes as much energy to wish as it does not plan? Weve rarely seen a business plan We have seen hundreds that would make an acceptable cure for insomnia. Heres the good newswe have never encountered a business that couldnt fit their plan on a single sheet of paper.
Calhoon provides several ideas in each of the eight strategy categories to help business leaders develop strategies that will encourage productive and profitable organizations: Human resources. Business leaders should determine if they are hiring the right people and placing them in the right positions, based on their talents and passions. They should ensure they hire carefully, thoughtfully, and patiently, and provide proper training. Leaders should enable strong communication links in the organization and ensure employees are managed effectively, given incentives to perform at the highest levels, and rewarded for their achievements. Physical resources. Business leaders can make a statement with their organizations physical resources about their brand, even before their customers ever encounter their people. When developing strategy in this area, leaders should consider whether they have provided their employees with cost-effective technology and equip-

Productivity/delivery. Strategies in this area focus on how well the company is serving the customer and solving their problems. Setting and monitoring standards of performance is critical. Business leaders should also review workflow systems to determine areas needing improvement and training that workers might need. These strategies should also include a post-delivery review to gain valuable feedback. Profit requirements. Healthy businesses focus on their return on investment (ROI). Profit measurements help leaders determine how well the
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Business Book Summaries September 22, 2011 Copyright 2011 EBSCO Publishing Inc. All Rights Reserved

The 1 Hour Plan for Growth

Joe Calhoon

company is performing and growing. Profit also provides capital for future innovation and growth. Strategies in this area focus on developing an annual financial business plan, finding competent CPAs and bankers to work with, improving accounts-receivable and accounts-payable processes, and educating the management team about financial measurements and goals. Social Responsibility. Often, successful business owners feel they have been entrusted with so much and want to give to the less fortunate. Strategies in this area involve making decisions about how much to give and to whom. Businesses sometimes decide to partner with a charity. Alternatively, leaders can focus on providing leadership in the community, and encourage employees to become involved in service activities.

a matrix with significant impact along one axis and urgency along the other, creating four quadrants. The quadrants identify where the business leader should direct his attention and effort for the most effect: Quadrant 1. These tasks have a significant impact on the business growth plan and are also urgent. They usually get done. Quadrant 2. These tasks have a significant impact on the business growth plan but have no urgent time pressures. These activities should be made a priority. Quadrant 3. These tasks do not make a significant impact on the business growth plan and are not important; however, there is an urgency associated with them. Business leaders should not confuse urgent tasks with important ones and should minimize these activities.

Part of the process of developing strategies is to set Quadrant 4. These tasks are neither urgent nor priorities. Priorities might include goals that the comsignificant to the business growth plan. Busipany wants to achieve, problems that it wants solved, ness leaders should not waste their time on these or capacities that it wants to develop. Typically, prioractivities. ities are missing from many business plans. However, they should always be included, as they easily provide a focus for Priorities are the missing element of most business growth employees to achieve milestone plans. Priorities provide focus for people to achieve the importasks that grow the business, tant tasks to grow your business; an opportunity for people to while the employees enhance enhance their competence, character, and confidence; [and] spetheir competence, character, and confidence. Each priority is a cific actions to deal with your organizational issues. specific action that deals with organizational issues. When companies do not define their priorities, their leaders, employees, and organizations waste incredAn effective process for writing priorities involves ible amounts of time and underserve their customers, four steps: (1) start the sentence with a verb that fellow coworkers, and stakeholders. After the prioridescribes a completion action, (2) make it measurties have been established, the business growth plan able or observable, (3) end it with a specific date, and is complete. Prioritizing tasks helps business leaders (4) assign the responsibility for completion to one achieve success. However, to consistently succeed, person. That one person does not do all the work; achievers realize that they cannot waste their energy he or she is just responsible to ensure that the work thinking about the effort needed to complete tasks. is completed. An example of an effective priority Instead, they use their energy reserves to propel statement is Hire a new salesperson by December themselves to get the effort started and let the force of 18assigned to Thomas. In this statement, Hire is the task take over. an action verb, a new salesperson is observable, by December 18 sets a specific date, and assigned to After the business growth plan is complete, business Thomas assigns the responsibility. leaders should develop action plans. These plans provide the necessary clarity to help leaders take action, Setting priorities allows business leaders to use their manage their time more effectively, and make progtime more effectively. Activities can be charted on
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The 1 Hour Plan for Growth

Joe Calhoon

ress. Strategies help leaders achieve the company vision, and an action plan lays out step by step how the company will achieve its vision. It focuses efforts in the right direction and provides the right amount of oversight for each project. Well-constructed action plans allow the person responsible for implementing it to show how he or she is making progress. When business leaders engage their entire team in the planning process, they enhance the overall working experience by moving toward the same goals and achieving extraordinary results as a team. Getting the organizational teams involved in the planning process fosters a sense of commitment. It also provides an opportunity for team members to develop leadership skills and offer their best ideas. Three steps can be used to engage the organization in the creation of the companys business growth plan: 1. Assemble the right team. 2. Develop the business growth plan annually 3. Celebrate achievements and progress toward completion while setting new priorities each month. According to Calhoon, leaders in all sectors of the market are building extraordinary businesses and living extraordinary lives. He believes that leaders who follow his method can do the same.
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concepts in the book. Calhoon also provides an alternative fast-path through the book that lets readers get started right away on planning. Other readers can read the entire book to gain an in-depth knowledge of the plan, including several strategies to grow their businesses. Additional appendices provide resources for business leaders who want to involve their teams in the process, thereby gaining greater commitment from team members.

Contents
Foreword by Stephen R. Covey Acknowledgments Introduction: Are You Ready to Get Started? Part I: Planning for Growth Chapter 1: The Shortcut Chapter 2: An Overview of the One Hour Plan Part II: Where Do You Want to Go? Chapter 3: Vision: What Big Goal Will Inspire You and Your Team? (6 minutes) Chapter 4: The Customer-Centered Mission Statement: What Contribution Do You Make to Your Customers Lives? (6 minutes) Chapter 5: Values: What Standards Will Help Your Team Enjoy Working Together? (6 minutes) Chapter 6: Objectives: How Will You Measure Success? (7 minutes) Part III: Where Are You Now? Chapter 7: Facing the Brutal Realities: What Are the Big Issues that Must Be Addressed? (10 minutes) Part IV: How Will You Get from Here to There? Chapter 8: Strategies: What Are the Major Categories of Work to Be Done? (15 minutes) Chapter 9: Priorities: Who Will Do What by When? (10 minutes) Chapter 10: Action Plans: Putting It on the Calendar and Getting It Done Part V: Engaging Your Team Chapter 11: Whats Next?: How to Create and Execute
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Features of the Book

Reading Time: 2.5 hours, 224 pages In The 1 Hour Plan for Growth, Joe Calhoon outlines a method for developing a one-page business plan within one hour, overcoming the perception that business planning is a difficult, time-consuming, and ineffective process. He relates the process used for planning business growth to the efforts business people should take to plan for personal growth. Businesspeople who find themselves extremely busy, yet unproductive, will benefit from learning Calhoons method in order to better serve their customers, employees, and stakeholders. Written with an easy-to-read, casual tone, the book provides personal anecdotes and case studies that illustrate the

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The 1 Hour Plan for Growth

Joe Calhoon

a Team Plan for Years to Come Appendix 1Organizational Health Assessment Appendix 2How to Conduct a SWOT Analysis About the Author Additional Planning Resources

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The 1 Hour Plan for Growth

Joe Calhoon

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Copyright of One-Hour Plan for Growth - Business Book Summaries is the property of Great Neck Publishing and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use.