If this is the first you’re hearing of it, our deepest sympathies. Ok, ready? Summer is ending. It’s time to fall forward into September. Back to school, work, or whatever it is you do during the day. It’s also kind of sort of near 2022 planning time.

What? Yes. If you want to be a rockstar, live large, big house, five cars, be in charge… here’s an idea. Pursue a plan before the plan! Before your VP schedules urgent meetings with compressed timelines that lights your hair on fire. Doesn’t need to be too intense either!

Something like this:

1. Write down three different plans for the 2022 year ahead
2. Break it down into quarterly snapshots or, if you’re earlier stage, try monthly snapshots
3. Chart your key metric and headcount growth along 3 different parallel paths
   • Best Case
   • Base Case
   • Worst Case

Best Case:

• By how much have you previously exceeded your plan? Headcount, revenue growth, product shipped, events hosted, sprints supported, etc. Whatever the metric is use any historical outperformance you’ve seen and double it (at least)
• If everything goes tremendously right what type of resources would you need to support a rocket ship 2022?

Base Case

• If the business continues to grow at X% (similar to 2021) what other resources will be needed to continue to execute on that growth?
• AND if this year felt really resource constrained try to catch up a little bit. If efficiency is expanding feel free to insert some more personnel to build for a more sustainable go forward “base case”

Worst Case

• In the event that growth really slows or something crazy happens like, say, a pandemic how might you plan for it?
• Would it be staff reduction? Key team member retention planning at the very least.
• This plan doesn’t need to be shared but it doesn’t hurt to have. The world, and the markets, are a crazy place!

Start jotting down your notes! It’s September and it never hurts to make a little chicken scratch plan before the plan. Back to school, back to school to show our execs we aren’t fools..