Work... with or without an objective?

I’ve been working as a consultant for 10 years now, and I think I have gained quite some experience on how (especially small and medium-sized) organizations and employees deal with business management.

To plan or not to plan a budget?

And what about objectives? Should we assign them, especially to the sales force, or is it just a waste of time?

Is it worth the effort to make forecasts that will undoubtedly later prove to be wrong?

I have seen organizations with a consolidated business management controlling system reap poor fruits, and companies driven by “gut decisions” yield excellent results.

So? What’s best to do?

I have already written about the usefulness of linking bonuses to objectives and incentivizing the sales force, so I’ll spend no more time on these topics.

I firmly believe that an organization without a budgeting system is less likely to enjoy good results.

In other words, there is a substantial difference between being generally motivated to do one’s best all day and, on the other hand, spending time focused on pursuing a specific objective.

Don’t you think so?