Every year, there’s one week on the calendar when our leadership team finalizes the plan for the year ahead.
From the outside, it’s easy to assume that week is when the planning happens. In reality, it’s the last mile. The plan is built long before we ever walk into the room, and the thinking behind it is where anyone running a company or building a rental portfolio can get some real value.
On last week’s Not Your Average Investor Show, the conversation pulled back the curtain on what makes plans actually hold up when complexity and people are involved. It comes down to three disciplines the average investor doesn’t think about:
- A “parking lot” system that protects great ideas from recency bias
- Capacity ranking in addition to financial upside
- Consensus-based decisions that turn a plan into shared ownership
So let’s talk about what we actually do every year.
What The Plan Looks Like
When that final week ends, the output looks clean. It all lives in one document, with reflections, financials, and operating plans tied to execution. But the document isn’t the achievement. The months of thinking behind it are.
👉 The structure of the plan itself (and the people behind it) is outlined
Where Ideas Come From: “The Parking Lot”
Reflecting ahead of planning is a good instinct. But if you only reflect when planning season arrives, recency bias quietly takes over… and the loudest, latest issues start masquerading as the most important ones.
That’s why we baked planning into how the organization thinks all year long. For example:
Twice a month, our 4 partners step out of the day-to-day on purpose. We review what is creating friction right now, what is coming next, and what strategic initiatives deserve real attention, not hallway conversations. Some topics turn into decisions immediately. Others go into a shared “parking lot” so they do not get lost and so they can be evaluated with context during annual planning instead of in the heat of the moment.
This rhythm exists inside every department…
- Directors are meeting with managers
- Managers are pulling insight from supervisors
- Immediate decisions are made, and long-term ideas get put in the “parking lot”
By the time we reach that final week, we are not trying to invent strategy from scratch; we are refining ideas that have already been lived with, questioned, and shaped by the people closest to the work.
This is where the perspective shift matters for investors too.
As portfolios grow, you are no longer managing a single property. You are managing multiple income streams, different timelines, and different expectations inside your household. Just like a business, that level of complexity demands structure, not spontaneity.
Is a weekly or monthly family meeting part of your routine? If it is, what do you discuss? Do you have a “parking lot” for the best ideas that can’t be executed immediately?
👉 Behind the scenes of how we take ideas from parking lot to business plan
A Better Way to Rank “Great” Ideas
Ranking ideas by the size of the opportunity for the company and for our clients is a natural starting point. But we learned through experience that upside can be shortsighted if it ignores the thing that really shapes client experience the most: team capacity.
Here is an example of how we stay true to that.
Over about eighteen months, we acquired four property management companies. Financially, they performed well. Strategically, they made sense. Operationally, they taught us something important.
Each integration added complexity to the team. By the fourth one, it became clear that even good opportunities carry a cost that does not always show up in a spreadsheet – risk of creating an inconsistent experience for our clients.
So when the next attractive opportunity appeared, we passed.
Not because the numbers were weak.
Because the team was stretched.
That moment illustrates a decision framework we now use consistently.
Before we ask if something is profitable, we ask if it empowers the team.
Before we ask if the market supports it, we ask if we can execute it well.
Only after those answers are clear do the numbers matter.
This is the same lens I encourage investors to use…
Before the property.
Before the projections.
Before the excitement.
Ask whether the team you are relying on can actually make the plan real. When that part is solid, everything else feels more predictable and far less stressful.
👉 Discussing why a great idea sometimes stays on the shelf
NOT YOUR AVERAGE INSIGHT: Why The Best Laid Plans Fall Apart
Planning always means choosing between good ideas, and voting feels like the clean way to decide. But when plans fall apart, it is rarely because the wrong idea won. It is because the people who lost the vote never fully bought in.
The reasoning is simple.
A vote creates a decision.
Consensus creates ownership.
That’s why the most meaningful evolution in our planning over the last twenty years has been moving away from voting and investing in consensus-based decision making.
👉 This is the story behind our consensus-based decision making practice
Consensus means everyone supports the plan fully, even if it was not their first choice, because they believe it is the best outcome for the group as a whole. That level of alignment changes how people show up when things get hard.
Let’s think about it outside of business…
If your family is not aligned on a vacation, no amount of planning will make it enjoyable for everyone. If a spouse is not fully on board with a rental property strategy, it becomes much harder to see it through when challenges appear.
Success comes from consensus-based alignment when making decisions.
That is why we value creating spaces where couples can learn together, ask questions together, and truly understand what they are building. When everyone sees the plan clearly, the work feels lighter, and the confidence lasts longer.
From our sales process to our weekly show, to our annual Not Your Average Investor Summit, we do everything we can to make sure you can bring your family into the decision-making process.
As you think about your own decisions, it may be worth reflecting on where alignment needs to come first before the next opportunity shows up. If you’re a client, there is no better place to do that than our upcoming Summit (2/19-2/21).
When the people involved are aligned, the plan stops feeling fragile. It starts feeling executable.
Looking for help creating a plan that leads to concensus in your family? Set up a call with our team to discuss your investment goals and see if our approach aligns.