Recently, I created the following [SWOT-grounded] table to help organize thoughts for a mid-year Strategic Planning session.

This 'SWOT activity' brought back fond memories of time spent with Don Peart...as captured below, in the Fall of 2013 Don Peart introduced our CFFB roundtable group to his broader perspective on SWOT. Don's message was an exceptional improvement on SWOT. Don's recommendations meshed perfectly with Talents & Strengths thinking and with solutions-focused thinking...i.e., thinking progressive business leaders need to embrace. Ever since that morning with Don, every time I think of SWOT I review his messages and how they can help individuals put their Talents to good use and do their work with a positive, solution-aimed attitude.

I work at creating simple tools to help expand the use of SWOT. For example, the following simple table helps focus thinking and discussion on S & W & O & T while also considering what has changed since the last strategy session.

Of most importance:

• What lessons have we learned from the changes? and 
• Why did those changes happen?

The following was first published October 28, 2013

STRENGTHS: The Gallup people presented Strengths as a combination of Talent, Knowledge, & Skills. Talent is not enough on its own. It must be coupled with Knowledge. We clarify that the Knowledge must be specialized, focused, and consistent with what it takes to achieve goals. Talent coupled with Knowledge is not enough...it is essential that Skills be practised until tasks and processes are mastered. Only then can one possess and vent Strengths. On top of that Gallup wisdom, we added Opportunities. That's where leaders fit in. Leaders recognize Talent, provide access to Knowledge and training & development in the form of practising. In this way, leaders provide the Opportunities for the development of Strengths.

P=2S+O: Bosses exist to delegate tasks and processes and manage the people who do those tasks and processes. That being the framework for business, bosses really don't want to hear Problems. Bosses only want to hear Problems when the Problems are used to introduce Solutions...and, every once in a while, Opportunities. That's the P=2S+O philosophy. That's why we created the P=2S+O tool.

SWOT is a strategic planning tool developed a couple of generations ago. It can be used to sort thoughts about business processes & business situations. And, as was recently brought to our attention by Don Peart, SWOT can be used to sort thoughts about people.

Business Contains Only 3 Things: People, Process, & Situations.

The thinking around SWOT's application for business Processes & Situations is on the record. Just Google 'SWOT' and you will find much theory and practical advice.

The first 3 thoughts that came to me when Don Peart talked about applying SWOT thinking to People were:

1.     There's a lot of common ground shared by SWOT and our definition of personal Strength.

2.     P=2S+O is a practical tool, designed to cause people to focus on Solutions while keeping their minds and eyes open for Opportunities.

3.     When recruiting we could use SWOT thinking as an umbrella over our definition of Strengths and our P=2S+O philosophy.

 Here's the picture...

Yes – there are many other reasons why you are driven to be in business. Regardless, you are in business to generate money. You have set a plan for your business and those plans include the generation of money to cover costs, which will include your personal remuneration.

When all of the costs are covered there will be profit…you have planned for gross profit. Linked to that profit, you likely have planned to make bonus payments to employees, including yourself and to other owner-operators, if any. After those payments are made, the remaining profit can either be left in your business as retained earnings or it can be paid out as dividends to owners.

There are lots of choices in business.

And, business is about generating profits and personal wealth.

Don't be shy about that.

Profit is a valuable thing in business.

Be clear about that.

Talk about profit.

Talk about profit and its relationship with your other corporate Values.

Use visual tools to clarify the picture as you see it.

For example...

In summary, you have 3 ways to receive money from your business:

1. Salary [wages],
2. Bonus, and
3. Dividends.

Many might view the following question as rhetorical.

Nonetheless, we will ask it:

Why would you want to receive money from your business?

The answer is: (1) to cover your current needs for money and (2) to cover your future needs for money.

Few small-business owners will argue with both those reasons.

Fewer small-business owners will do both of them.

Most small-business owners are challenged to succeed at the first one. In fact, succeeding at the first one consumes so much time and energy, most small-business owners never get around to working on the second one.

Why? 

Because most small-business owners fail to plan. When they fail to business plan they pave the path for failing to succession plan. Time spent planning and particularly time spent succession planning keeps the end-point vision front and centre in the business owner’s mind. That vision is linked to longer-term goals. So, longer-term goals are also front and centre in the business owner’s mind. When the end-point vision and long-term goals are front and centre, actions have guiding lights to follow. With guiding lights in place, the likelihood of success increases.

This is another key reason you should create a succession plan.

Separate yourself from the pack.

About the pack: Most small-business owners will be acutely aware of the need for current transfers of money from their business bank to their personal bank. They are acutely aware of the need because they know they need personal money to buy food, pay for a place to live, pay for a car…and pay for a long list of other things. Most small-business owners will expend a great deal of energy figuring out how to make these money transfers to cover their immediate, personal-money needs.

Yet, most small-business owners will expend little or no energy figuring out how to make money transfers to cover future needs. As a result, most small-business owners are ill-prepared to cover personal-emergency cash needs and even more fail to prepare for their retirement-money needs.

Increasing the likelihood of business success…that is one of the main reasons a business owner must perform succession planning. As Napoleon Hill taught in his 1937 classic ‘Think And Grow Rich’ –

“Plan Your Work and Work Your Plan.”

STRENGTHS: The Gallup people presented Strengths as a combination of Talent, Knowledge, & Skills. Talent is not enough on its own. It must be coupled with Knowledge. We clarify that the Knowledge must be specialized, focused, and consistent with what it takes to achieve goals. Talent coupled with Knowledge is not enough...it is essential that Skills be practised until tasks and processes are mastered. Only then can one possess and vent Strengths. On top of that Gallup wisdom, we added Opportunities. That's where leaders fit in. Leaders recognize Talent, provide access to Knowledge and training & development in the form of practising. In this way, leaders provide the Opportunities for the development of Strengths.

P=2S+O: Bosses exist to delegate tasks and processes and manage the people who do those tasks and processes. That being the framework for business, bosses really don't want to hear Problems. Bosses only want to hear Problems when the Problems are used to introduce Solutions...and, every once in a while, Opportunities. That's the P=2S+O philosophy. That's why we created the P=2S+O tool.

SWOT is a strategic planning tool developed a couple of generations ago. It can be used to sort thoughts about business processes & business situations. And, as was recently brought to our attention by Don Peart, SWOT can be used to sort thoughts about people.

Business Contains Only 3 Things: People, Process, & Situations.

The thinking around SWOT's application for business Processes & Situations is on the record. Just Google 'SWOT' and you will find much theory and practical advice.

The first 3 thoughts that came to me when Don Peart talked about applying SWOT thinking to People were:

1. There's a lot of common ground shared by SWOT and our definition of personal Strength.
2. P=2S+O is a practical tool, designed to cause people to focus on Solutions while keeping their minds and eyes open for Opportunities.
3. When recruiting we could use SWOT thinking as an umbrella over our definition of Strengths and our P=2S+O philosophy.

There are many possible ways to apply SWOT thinking to People: recruiting, training, etc.

...more to follow