On April 14, 2017, Michael J. Penney published 5 Paragraph Business Plan: The Action Oriented Business Management Tool For Leaders. The first edition is a 91-page paperback in an 8.5 by 11 inch format, published under the 5 Paragraph Business Plan imprint (ISBN 978-0692885895).
What the book is
The idea is simple. The military has planned missions with the five paragraph operations order for generations: Situation, Mission, Execution, Admin and Logistics, Command and Signal. Michael took that format and turned it into a way to plan a business. Each paragraph becomes a section of the plan, so the person writing it moves from the problem, to the goal, to the steps, to the resources, to who is in charge and how the team communicates.
The book’s current Amazon description puts the problem it solves this way:
Most businesses do not fail because they lack talent. They fail because they lack alignment.
5 Paragraph Business Plan, Amazon description
The description says the plan is meant to be a living document, not one written once and forgotten, so leaders, managers and frontline teams stay pointed at the same objective. It lists what readers learn to do:
- Build a complete business plan using the 5 Paragraph framework
- Improve communication and accountability
- Align leadership and operational teams
- Adapt quickly to changing conditions
- Create a repeatable planning and execution process
Each major section of the book matches a companion audio tutorial at 5Paragraph.com.
Why it mattered then
Michael had been building toward this for years. As early as 2015 he was writing about using mission planning to start a business. By November 2016, podcast hosts were introducing him as the creator of the 5 Paragraph Business Plan, and his day job at Bunker Labs RDU was helping veterans plan and launch businesses. The book put that method on paper in a form any veteran, or any civilian, could pick up and use.
It also spoke a language veterans already knew. A Marine who has written or received an operations order does not have to learn a new system. They only have to point a familiar one at a new mission.
Looking back
By late 2017 hosts were calling him a published author of the Five Paragraph Business Plan. Amazon now lists it as part of the 5 Paragraph series, alongside his later book DOMINATE: The Special Operations Way To Win In Business.
This post is part of the From the Archive series, which collects Michael’s past media appearances in one place. See the full media archive.
Work with Michael
Marine veteran, TEDx speaker and author of the 5 Paragraph Business Plan. Bring him to your stage, wear the gear, or catch him live.