Carl von Clausewitz was a Prussian general of the nineteenth century, more famous as a philosopher and military theorist. Trivia enthusiasts are probably familiar with him primarily as the man who coined the phrase ‘fog of war’, which he did in his 1832 work On War. The ideas in the book come across as more real and thought through than in that favourite of every newly-minted college graduate who wants to see corporate life or even starting up as a battle, Sun Tzu’s The Art of War .
The reason I am talking about Carl von Clausewitz is not because of the fog of war, but a different quote in his book. It goes, “the enemy of a good plan is the dream of a perfect plan”.
Of course, von Clausewitz made that statement in the context of battle plans and how generals and powers that be will never have enough time to come up with plans that are so perfect that success is one hundred percent assured, and it is always imperative for them to quickly go forward with a plan that is good enough.
But this statement applies just as well to startups too. Large companies have the luxury of having planning cycles and dedicated resources and central planning teams that can take months to prepare the plan for a year or three. Startups have neither the time nor the resources to have such stretched-out planning processes. The only way a startup can function is to go right in with a quick plan that is good enough, and continuously iterate on it.
When this is the case, it becomes important for the founders and other leaders in a startup to have a dependable heuristic or a test that allows them to determine if a plan is good enough. But that is easier said than done.
Another option, one which addresses the lack of planning resources, is to outsource it, in a sense. Any startup will come with its set of investors, mentors, well-wishers and the like. Founders should learn how to lean on that goodwill to form and hone ideas for what their startup needs to be doing.
Going back to von Clausewitz’s book, another line in it goes, “...in the whole range of human activities, war most closely resembles a game of cards.” What he means is that there is always an element of chance, which means that even good plans can fail. Seasoned poker players will tell you that the game works out only if you are in it for the long run, and that is a call that startups must make too. If they believe in the idea, the founders should be able to take early missteps in their stride and settle down with an eye on the long term.
Also, remember that in card games, plans may not always pan out in a predictable way, but having a sound strategy always helps. And every good card player will have a strategy appropriate to the game or situation in the game. And so it is in startups too. Have a plan. Evaluate it to be confident that it is a good plan. Be quick about all this. And if the plan fails, do not give up too soon. Just iterate on to the next plan.
The author heads product at a mid-sized startup in the real estate space
