Businesses are more likely to die of indigestion (overeating) than starvation. In startup mode, businesses are often big eater’s. They want to do and try everything. In scale-up mode, that type of over-eating can be dangerous and waste your team’s time. So, how do you control your appetite? I recommend using a document called PSPOT, which outlines your:
Purpose: Rarely changes
Strategy: Changes annually
Projects: 2 or 3 big annual initiatives
Omissions: Projects you decide not to pursue
Tracking: The key numbers you review to see if you are on track.
The most important part of the document is probably the “Omissions” part. These are the projects you are not going to pursue this year. This is how the business limits it’s appetite so you don’t overstuff yourselves.
This document has further uses. For example, look at this document at your management team meeting and use red/yellow/green to mark the numbers. Any that are red or yellow, spend time and resources trying to get them green in the next couple of meetings. Go further and have all your leaders create their own PSPOTs and make sure they are in line with the business’s PSPOT.
