On a cloudless summer day in suburban Chicago, a woman put her two children in the car and drove to the shopping mall. There she met one of her best girlfriends, who also came to the mall with her kids.
The group of two moms and four kids spent the whole day at the mall, having lunch in the cafeteria and then leisurely strolling, shopping and people watching. An afternoon movie in the attached theatre and malted milkshakes at the ice cream parlor finished off the mall excursion before the women drove back to their respective homes to prepare dinner.
We all nod knowingly when anyone talks about the importance of vision, mission and business planning—and then most of us go back to what we were doing before the interruption.
As it happens, I often ask small business owners if they believe business planning is an important management tool. I don’t think anyone has ever said "No." But when I follow up with the question, "Do you have a current business plan?" only one in 10 answers "Yes."
On a cloudless summer day in suburban Chicago, a woman put her two children in the car and drove to the shopping mall. There she met one of her best girlfriends, who also came to the mall with her kids.
We all nod knowingly when anyone talks about the importance of vision, mission and business planning—and then most of us go back to what we were doing before the interruption. 
