Whitepaper Sales & Operations Planning (S&OP): from strategy to execution

Chris Columbus and his roadmap to operational excellence. Turning your strategy into operational excellence may well mean sailing into uncharted waters.

So to explain it, let’s use an example of someone who’s done just that, Christopher Columbus, who’s often cited as discovering America. Now whether he did, or didn’t ever land in North America, let’s assume that was his plan to begin with. The first thing old Chris did, was to think of a strategy to get there. He’d have charted the way, thought about supplies, how many crew members he’d need and how long he’d be away from his beloved wife.

He’d then have created a more detailed plan on how to fulfil this strategy. Where would he sail to first? Where could he restock? What were his contingency plans? He’d have packed the ship, double checked the cheese and wine rations and set off. En route, old Chris ran into some bother. For example, it’s widely noted he landed in the Caribbean a few times, but may have never actually set foot in America. This is what we call ‘managing the plan’.

How could he steer back on course? How could he align to the original plan? Maybe his charts were wrong? Or the man in charge had drunk too much rum? We’ll never know. But if his team had known of S&OE, his claim on American soil might be substantiated to this day. If you want to close the gap between your ideal plans and real results better than Chris did, keep reading. We’ve got something that can help.

Slimstock created a practical roadmap for getting business growth under control. Download the whitepaper if you want to know more.