Business Planning and the Family Vacation
What You Need To Know
Picture this: The van is packed, the snacks are ready, and you’re about to hit the road for the big family vacation.
One problem—nobody really knows where you’re headed. The itinerary changes every hour, and every passenger thinks they’re driving. Six hours later? You’ve burned gas but made little progress. Sound familiar? It’s business planning—the “family vacation edition.”
Most companies run strategy and execution this way: lots of energy, shifting priorities, and unclear destination. At Un_Standard, we believe the right planning process doesn’t just “set direction”—it prevents chaos, bottlenecks, and those classic “are we there yet?” meltdowns.
The Pitfalls of Aimless Planning
No Shared Destination
Just like a road trip where everyone’s yelling out “beach,” “mountains,” or “amusement park,” misaligned teams start the quarter with different end goals. The result? Marketing wants to find new customers; sales just wants to close easier deals; product is chasing “the cool feature.” No clarity on the true finish line means confusion, wasted time, and zero momentum.
The Wrong Navigator
One person shouting directions while six others second-guess is a recipe for backseat chaos. Most businesses fall into the same trap—strategy is communicated once, in a single kickoff, then left to be “adapted” by every function.
Teams need a central source of narrative and authority—who owns course-correcting, who updates the team when the plan shifts, and who actually drives the car? Without that, you’ll end up off road, arguing about snacks.
Packing for Every Possibility (“What If We Need It?”)
Ever see a vacation vehicle so overloaded it’s dragging? Same goes for business planning. When every pet project—and “just in case” process—is thrown in, you slow down, burn bandwidth, and make pivots agonizing.
At Un_Standard, we call these “clutter quarters.” If you try to chase every market, offer, or innovation at once, you’ll dilute your edge and grow…well, nowhere.
Join The Movement
Building a Strategy for the Real World (and Real Teams)
Map Your Destination—Together
- Alignment starts with one shared, clearly defined goal.
- Don’t just state the finish line; paint the picture so every team and leader can explain what “success” looks and feels like at the end of the “drive.”
Assign a True Navigator
- Real progress needs a clarity champion—not just a project manager.
- Empower the person or team who is relentless about recalibrating: are we still on the best route, or did the terrain change?
- If nobody speaks up when traffic hits, you’ll wind up lost (and likely blaming the wrong person).
Pack for the Route—Not the Apocalypse
- Ruthlessly prioritize. Ask, “Will this project/tool/campaign get us closer to our main goal this quarter?”
- If it’s not mission-critical, leave it for the next leg of the journey.
- Spread your efforts too thin and you risk breaking down before destination.
Why Most Teams Lose Momentum Mid-Trip
Drift: The farther you go, the more off-course teams can get—check-ins are needed.
Team fatigue: If nobody knows when the next stop is or what the reward will be, enthusiasm sours.
The “always next quarter” trap: Delay decisions, and soon what you wanted this year is postponed again.
Movements, not vacations, need check-ins, recalibration, and a “clarity map”—not just a packing list.
Movement Ritual: The Strategy Pit-Stop
Once every month, hold a strategy pit-stop:
- Where are we versus the plan?
- What blockers did we meet—and did we fix or swerve?
- Has the destination changed, and if so, have we told the whole van?
This ensures you’re continuously moving the team forward, not just running in place.
Proof: Un_Standard in Action
A founder-led company used Un_Lock to run a strategic “destination audit”—clarified their real north star, trimmed three pet projects, and built a 90-day launch map.
Result: Fewer course corrections and meetings, more team energy, and a real feeling of arrival—together.
The Anti-Ordinary Takeaway
If your team dreads planning, or if every strategy session is deja vu, don’t keep “rehashing the packing list.”
Run a movement-first map, assign a bold navigator, and make clarity your competitive edge—not just your traffic report.
At Un_Standard, we help teams develop a strategy built for the road ahead, not just the next exit.
Ready to transform business planning into business movement? Book a Clarity Mapping Call With Un_Standard →
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David Garrard
Agent Provocateur & Chief Creative Officer at Un_Standard. David helps ambitious brands unearth clarity, break the rules that hold them back, and co-create movement-level growth. When not challenging the status quo, he’s in the kitchen inventing new flavors or chasing after his three cats: Hallie Tosis, Lester Een, and Jim G. Vitis. #BeUnStandard
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