A Day In The Life Of A Head Of Strategic Planning At Monster Energy Company
A Head of Strategic Planning's day at Monster Energy varies greatly depending on the "strategic life cycle," balancing long-term (three-to-five-year) trajectories with the cyclical annual business planning process. The professional prioritizes "deep thinking" first thing in the morning, after a dedicated 15 minutes for learning, then tackles more mechanical tasks later in the day to maximize productivity and proactively manage interruptions.
Strategic Planning, Business Planning, Project Prioritization, Proactive Communication, Time Management
Advizer Information
Name
Job Title
Company
Undergrad
Grad Programs
Majors
Industries
Job Functions
Traits
Blake Britten
Head of Strategic Planning
Monster Energy Company
University of Michigan, 2006
UCLA Anderson, MBA
Engineering - Industrial
Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG), Food, Beverages & Alcohol
Business Strategy
Honors Student, Scholarship Recipient, Took Out Loans, Greek Life Member
Video Highlights
1. The Head of Strategic Planning starts their day by dedicating 15 minutes to learning something new, whether it's an industry article or a podcast, to stimulate their mind and stay updated.
2. They prioritize tasks by creating a to-do list and proactively scheduling meetings to avoid bottlenecks and maximize productivity.
3. The Head of Strategic Planning strategically allocates their time, focusing on deep thinking and complex tasks in the morning when their mind is fresh, and handling less demanding work later in the day.
Transcript
What does a day in the life of a head of strategic planning look like?
It's very different depending on where we are in the strategic life cycle. It has a three to five-year trajectory, but it's also very cyclical because we support and facilitate the annualized business planning process. Depending on where you are in that cycle can dictate what you're working on that day or that week.
I find personally that I do my best work in the morning. Everyone's brain and body functions differently, but I like to take the first 15 minutes of my day to find something I want to learn about. I call it my "first 15."
Maybe it's an article about the category, a random podcast, or digging into a report I just received. I spend that first 15 minutes to get my mind going and learn something new for the day.
From there, I try to get organized. I check emails and create a to-do list: what are my priorities, and what absolutely has to get done? I also try to figure out what I need from other people throughout the day to stay productive.
I front-load some of this in case I need something from someone else. I don't want them to become a bottleneck for me, so I try to proactively manage some of that. Once I have my day laid out, I jump right in, knowing I do my best work when my brain is fresh.
I try to front-load the chaotic parts of the day too. If I have strategic or critical deep thinking to do, I do that first thing when I'm fresh. Then, the rest of the day can be more "busy work," a little more mechanical, which can flesh out in the afternoon when I'm a little slower and more distracted. So, it's just how I think about a general day in the life.