You’re used to hearing from me about annual planning every Q4.

This year, you haven’t.

Here’s why I stopped.

The Problem Isn’t Planning

Most leaders I work with dread annual planning.

Not because planning is useless.

Because everyone has an opinion on how you should do it.

Your Directors want OKRs.
Your CFO wants detailed forecasts and budgets.
Your VP saw what McKinsey does and thinks you should do that too.
And your coach wants you to read a book about Traction and rocks.

None of them run your business.

And you’re stuck trying to satisfy everyone else’s version of “the right way” instead of figuring out what actually works for you.

That’s the first problem.

The Second Problem Is Timing

Most coaches and advisors start talking about planning in October.

Because October is supposedly the “right time.” It gives you “enough” time.

I stopped pushing it because nobody listens.

And they don’t listen for a good reason.

Q4 is chaos.

You’re hustling to close the year. You thought you’d hit $10M and you’re tracking for $9M. Everyone’s scrambling.

Retail is dealing with Black Friday, Cyber Monday, holiday shopping, returns, and gift cards.
Manufacturing is pushing quotas.
B2B sellers are trying to help enterprises dump budget before year-end.

Q4 isn’t planning season.
It’s survival season.

Then the holidays hit. You’re burned out. It’s flu season. You take time off.

January shows up and now you have to close the books before you can even think about the future.

By the time everyone’s available, it’s late January.
Now you’re a third of the way through Q1.
And what you’re seeing now looks nothing like what you saw in November.

So you reconsider the plan.

By the time it’s done, it’s February.
And the plan is already wrong.

I've watched this exact cycle destroy momentum for dozens of clients.

This is the cycle.

And it’s why most leaders hate planning.

Not because planning doesn’t matter.
Because the process they’ve been sold doesn’t match how their business actually works.

There Is No One Right Way

I used to be a big proponent of structured annual planning.

Ten-year vision. Three-year plan. Annual goals. Quarterly goals. Rolling forecasts.

When I ran a 500-person organization, I needed that level of structure. We were in retail, so we shifted our fiscal year to July-June and planning started in April.

It worked because we designed it for our business.

What I’ve learned since is this:

That system isn’t right for everyone.
And forcing it often creates more friction than clarity.

The Blank Slate Lesson

I had a client who belonged to an entrepreneurial community where everyone was encouraged to use the same planning framework.

Big spreadsheet. Dozens of fields. Seemingly endless questions.

He took his advisory team offsite to work through it with him.

An hour in, he was frustrated and stuck.

I told him, “Put the spreadsheet away. Start with a blank sheet. Where do you want the business to be in three years?” And we worked top-down from there.

He finished the plan in two hours.

Same business. Same goals. Same team.
The only difference? He stopped trying to fit how he processes his business into someone else's box.

The issue wasn’t planning.
It was using someone else’s system.

If a planning framework makes you feel stupid, constrained, or disconnected from your business, you’ve got the wrong framework.

Find the system that fits how you and your team think.

Good, Better, Best

Here's how I think about planning now (and this is going to tick off a lot of consultants):

Good is good enough for most businesses.

You track what matters. You know where you stand. You can tell whether you're on or off track.
That's the baseline. If you're doing this, you're not aimless.

Better is structure without rigidity.
You have a repeatable planning system.
Maybe it's quarterly. Maybe it's six months. Maybe it's inspired by EOS or Scaling Up.
You've got alignment. You've got process.

Best is rare and not always worth it.

You're constantly analyzing and responding in real time.
This is where great operators live.
It requires exceptional leadership and exceptional operations.
And always know the numbers, financials and key metrics.

Most businesses aren't there. And pretending you are just creates friction.

A Note on External Requirements

Some businesses have no choice about annual planning.

If you're public, you've got the SEC and the analysts.
If you have investors, your board expects an annual budget and forecast.
If you have a line of credit, your bank wants projections.

That's compliance. Do it.

Compliance planning and operational planning are different things.

You can give your board an annual forecast while planning on quarterly cycles.

You can file your projections while treating them as a starting point, not scripture.

The plan you show investors doesn't have to be the plan you use to run the day-to-day.
External vs. internal expectations.

What You Actually Can’t Skip

Regardless of where you land, a few things are non-negotiable.

Have a budget.
Even if it’s rough. Even if it’s quarterly.
Without one, you can’t make trade-offs or test assumptions.

Know your goals.

If your team doesn’t know what success looks like, they’re just busy.

Involve your team.
Share the vision. Let departments build their plans. Then align them.

Have real financial leadership at the table.

Not a glorified controller.
Not an outsourced CFO who shows up once a month.
Someone in the trenches with you. Someone in every leadership meeting. Someone who can tell you whether the math actually works.

Measure everything.

Have a dashboard or scorecard.
When you miss a goal, ask why. Not at year-end. In real time. Stay nimble. Correct course.
That’s why shorter planning cycles can work better for many businesses right now.