It's that time of year. Leadership teams are starting to think about next year. Budgets are being drafted, targets are being debated, and somewhere a spreadsheet is being built with a revenue number that everyone hopes is achievable.
Most annual planning starts the same way. Set ambitious goals, then work backward to a plan. It feels productive and forward-looking. It's also the reason so many plans look great in December and feel irrelevant by March.
The problem isn't the goals. It's that the plan skips the most important question: what's actually standing between where we are and where we want to be?
That's the gap. And if you don't plan for it, the gap will plan for you.
Why goal-first planning breaks down
When planning starts with goals, a few things tend to happen.
The goals get set by optimism. Without an honest look at current constraints, targets reflect hope more than reality. Then the team spends the year explaining why they missed.
The constraints get ignored. The same bottlenecks that slowed this year down, an overloaded founder, missing roles, managers who aren't ready, a fuzzy strategy, carry straight into next year. Nobody planned to fix them, so they don't get fixed.
The plan becomes a wish list. Every team adds its priorities, nothing gets cut, and the result is a plan with fifteen top priorities. Which means it has none.
Start with an honest look back
Before you set a single goal for 2027, spend time understanding 2026. Not just the numbers, but the story behind them.
Ask your leadership team to answer these questions, honestly and independently:
- What did we accomplish this year that we're most proud of?
- Where did we fall short, and what was the real reason?
- What slowed us down more than it should have?
- What did we keep saying we'd fix and never did?
- Where are we relying on heroic effort instead of a working system?
Put the answers side by side. The patterns that show up are your gap.
Diagnose the gap across all three legs
Once you can see the gap, look at it through the three legs of the Coherence Gap: strategy, talent, and leadership.
Strategy. Is our direction clear enough that people can use it to make decisions? Do we know what we're deliberately not doing? Does every leader describe the priorities the same way?
Talent. Do we have the right seats for where we're going, not where we've been? Which critical roles are missing or being covered by someone stretched too thin? Where would senior expertise change the game?
Leadership. Are our managers ready to lead the larger team we're planning for? Do we have a cadence that catches problems early? Is decision-making fast enough, and in the right hands?
You'll likely find that one leg is weaker than the others. That's where your plan should focus first.
Then set the goals
Now you're ready to set goals, and they'll be better for it.
Instead of a revenue target floating on its own, you'll have a target backed by a clear understanding of what needs to change to hit it. Instead of fifteen priorities, you'll have a few that address the real constraints. Instead of hoping the same team with the same systems will produce different results, you'll have a plan to build the capability that makes those results possible.
A good 2027 plan has three parts: a small number of outcomes you're committed to, the specific gaps you'll close to make those outcomes possible, and what you're deliberately choosing not to do so you have room to focus.
Make the plan live past January
One more thing. A plan only matters if it shapes how people spend their time. Build in a quarterly rhythm to revisit it. Check progress, adjust what's not working, and recommit to what matters. The companies that hit their annual goals usually aren't the ones with the best plans. They're the ones that keep returning to them.
Close the gap before the year begins
The best time to start closing the gap is before the new year starts, not after the first quarter has slipped. Our Build Your Gameplan work helps leadership teams diagnose what's really in the way and build a 2027 plan that's honest, focused, and built to execute. Book a Fit & Focus call and let's make 2027 the year the plan actually holds.
