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    • Feb 12
    • 2 min read

4. How (Part 1) - COURSES OF ACTION




Continuing with the road trip analogy, the next thing your GPS does after you enter your desired destination and find your current location will be to select a course.

But this is where this analogy ends. Unlike a road trip, where you can only take one road (although a few are available), when planning your growth plans there will probably be more than one thing you can plan to do in parallel to make progress towards your dream . We’ll call these Courses of Actions (COA’s).

COA characteristics:

  1. Critical - failing to take them will mean failure to fully achieve the plan

  2. Effective - they have to have an impact on the business

  3. Major - their impact will not be marginal

  4. SWOT based - they will be derived from your strengths, build on the opportunities around you, remedy your weaknesses (or at least take them into consideration) and mitigate the threats you are facing


This part of the plan is probably the most critical so make sure to do it carefully. Start by listing the things that simultaneously :

  • you are best at (your strengths)

  • you are really passionate about

  • will give you the best results


Next, of the above-mentioned list think what you are:

  • currently do but if you improve or do more of them will generate significant results

  • currently don’t do and if you start doing will have a major positive impact. An impact can be productive (taking advantage of an opportunity or a strength) or defensive (mitigating a threat or overcoming a weakness)

  • currently do but need to stop doing because you are not best at and/or not really passionate about and/or don’t give the best results.

Your COA’s will:

  • Improve or do more of the things you do best and are passionate about and give the best results

  • Start to do things that you are not currently doing that you do best and are passionate about and give the best results

  • Put in place measures to mitigate risks or overcome a weakness

  • put measures in place to stop doing what does not fall into any of the above categories or any combination of them.


If done right, this process will result in a list of actions that will take your organisation to the next phase. ASSIGN A LEADER to each COA. The leader will not necessarily take the actions themselves but they will be accountable to them.

In the next part we will describe how to ensure that these actions are being executed.


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