Proponents of the Business Model Canvas and Lean Canvas often present the war cry of "Burn Your Business Plan!" These proponents claim that the traditional Business Plan document is "fat" (voluminous), rigid, unrealistic, and misleading. Chief among the advocates for burning a business plan are Lean Startup champions such as Steve Blank and Alexander Osterwalder. But, should the business plan be burned? If the business plan should be burned, what should take its place? As a substitute for the traditional business plan, Steve Blank and Alexander Osterwalder propose the Business Model Canvas, a 1-page document that visually summarizes the 9 building blocks of a business model. Some crusaders for burning the business plan use Ash Maurya's Lean Canvas, which is an adaptation of the Business Model Canvas that focuses on a problem-solution (Product-Market Fit) approach. But, how useful are the Business Model Canvas and Lean Canvas as tools for business planning and performance management? I've written a lot about the prospects and limitations of the Business Model Canvas as well as Lean Canvas. So, I'll be brief here: Neither the Business Model Canvas nor the Lean Canvas is a business plan. At best, the Business Model Canvas and Lean Canvas describe the state of a business AT a given point in time. In contrast, a business plan describes the state of a business OVER time. One advantage of a business plan is that it considers the state of a business at multiple levels: at the level of the enterprise, industry, and global environment. In contrast, both the Business Model Canvas and Lean Canvas focus only at the enterprise (or business model) level. Consequently, external factors and influences are ignored. The result is that many decisions regarding the DNA of a business model are made in a vacuum. The result is that such decisions are sub-optimal and require lots of iterations as well as waste of time and money. Use of the Business Model Canvas and Lean Canvas involves making a trade-off of Comprehensiveness vs. Rigidity. Both the Business Model Canvas and Lean Canvas are flexible documents to use. However, they are not comprehensive. In fact, both the Business Model Canvas and Lean Canvas map less than 15% of the DNA of a business. Given the above trade-off of Comprehensiveness vs. Rigidity, what is the ideal or Blue Ocean (Value Innovation) solution? Is there a tool that we can use to achieve the comprehensiveness of a business plan and the flexibility of the Business Model Canvas and Lean Canvas? Fortunately, the answer is "Yes!" The Business DNA Template is the answer. The Business DNA Template can be used as a 1-page document for Adaptive Planning & Execution (APEX). Like in the Transformers movie, the Business DNA Template can be used to illustrate and apply more than 50 tools in Business Planning and Strategic Management. The Business DNA Template is now yours. Explore it ...

1. Business
DNA
Template
Comprehensively
Visualize,
Organize,
and
Understand
the
DNA
of
a
Business
Model
GLOBAL
ENVIRONMENT
Business
DNA
Model
P.E.S.T.L.I.E.D.
Trends
Design
Needs
Aspira@ons
D N
A
INDUSTRY
(Ecosystem)
(Suppliers)
(Customers)