"After chewing things over for two months. . .I wrote a white paper in February 1977 outlining our answer to deregulation, a white paper I called the Five Year Plan '77."

Strategy and planning are two different activities. Strategy sets the destination and planning gets you there. It's the core of my work. Reading Joe Coulombe's "Becoming Trader Joe: How I Did Business My Way and Still Beat the Big Guys" is just one example after another for my management confirmation bias muscle. In Chapter 11 Joe discusses one of the key moments in the making of the beloved Trader Joes grocery stores. It's a fun read, but what jumps out is the process he outlines for getting all of this people moving into the future.
- He has a vision for what the future of world is going to be.
- He puts his customers into that vision of the world, imagining how they'll interact with it.
- He asks how Trader Joes will provide value to those customers in that environment at that time.
His white papers give the guidelines for making decisions. Guidelines let your people make the best decisions in the heat of the moment and Joe's are great. Emphasize edibles vs. non-edibles; Focus on continuity of supplies; Instead of national brands, focus on either Trader Joe's label products or the "no label" products like nuts and dried fruits are examples.
Strong directional guideline, but loose enough for annual planning, quarterly targeting, monthly goals, and daily decisions.
It works. Good book.
Good stuff.
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