Phew is not a plan.

Hey there Reader,

Last week started with a plot twist.

I was in a meeting across town, doing my best impression of a calm, composed business owner, when my phone lit up with an alert: the smoke detector at my house was going off.

Reader, no meeting agenda survives that notification.

So I made a decision: meeting over, keys in hand, 911 on the phone, and off I went across town in traffic that did not care about my emergency.

Here’s the thing, though. I couldn’t be in two places at once, and Henrico Fire didn’t wait for me. They showed up, did their jobs, and determined it was a false alarm. By the time I pulled in, they had cleared the scene. Maximum efficiency on their part, minimum usefulness on mine. (Thank you, Henrico Fire. You are the real MVPs!) Done is a decision, even when your phone is buzzing in the middle of a meeting. I decided what was mine to handle and trusted the people built for the rest.

The cavalry beat me home. Thank you, Henrico Fire.

Then I made it to the Goochland Women in Business event just in time, and Leading Out Loud: Communication as Culture Shaping went really well. Huge thanks to everyone who was in the room.

That evening, a new smoke detector was installed. And that’s the part I keep thinking about, because it’s exactly what most year-end reviews skip. “Phew, nothing happened” is a relief, not a plan. The useful question comes next: so what? What is this telling me about how things are set up, and what do I change so it works better next time?

That’s the same question I’m asking about my business as the year winds down, and it’s what this week’s post is all about.

Cheering you on (from a house with a very trustworthy smoke detector),
Angela
Castle Thunder Consulting
Bold strategy. Smart systems. More sanity.

PS: What’s one thing from this year that you moved past with a “phew” instead of asking “so what?” Hold that thought. It’s the whole point of this week’s post.

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Steal This

“Phew” ends the story. “So what?” improves it.

Try It:

Pick one thing from this year that went wrong, almost went wrong, or turned out to be a false alarm. Spend ten minutes writing down what happened, what it revealed about how things are set up, and the one small change that would keep it from happening again. Then make that change this week.

In the Blog

Quick gut check: when you sit down for your year-end review, what are you actually reviewing?

If the answer is “my numbers, and then a fresh goal list,” this week’s post is going to sting a little (in the best way). It kicks off our year-end planning series with why the typical review is just a scoreboard check sitting on top of the same old structure, and what a CEO-level review looks at instead. You’ll walk away with three things to do this week, before December crowds it all out.

Skip The Scoreboard