For many organizations and their leaders, a new year and the first quarter almost always provide the opportunity to put a fresh focus on navigating the future and ensuring greater, sustainable success. At the helm, you may already be exploring this topic with your leadership team, direct reports and any key company stakeholders, asking things like “Where do we want to be at the end of this year?” and “What’s our vision of success?”

While fielding those questions is important from a goal-setting and planning standpoint, it’s tough to answer those without the right information at your fingertips. And by that, we mean knowing and understanding the current state of your business. Without this insight, any goals created, everything aligned to those goals, and everyone held accountable for executing against those goals, can set you up for disaster. This is the case, particularly when building and sustaining accountability, a critical driver behind professional and organizational success.

At MAP, we don’t love scare tactics, but if you don’t have accurate information and a good grasp of the state of your business, you’re likely to:

1. Set the wrong goals and strategies when planning for future change and potential success.
2. Put the company at risk, particularly when external challenges (e.g., social, political, economic, regulatory, environmental and technological) create stress and strain company performance, productivity, morale and the bottom line.
3. De-stabilize and undermine company culture because when people are given the wrong information and asked to set goals, take action and remain accountable to key performance measures or other metrics, this leads to a Pandora’s box of problems. In short, it positions them to fail from the start.

So before diving into all the fun around visioning, goal-setting, strategic planning and implementing an accountability system, go back to the drawing board and do your due diligence with an accurate, easy-to-understand business assessment. Get a firm grip on the current state of business affairs, then share what’s vital and relevant to those who are invested in shaping the future of your organization. This may be a small number of people. Or, it may be everyone in the organization. But the transparency and correct insights + data will be powerful in creating the right roadmap for this year.

MAP Consulting uses proven tools and expertise to uncover the current state of business for its clients. Make this year the one where you get “planning” and “accountability” right. Contact MAP today!