Plan Is A Four Letter Word
Plan is a four letter word. I recently caught a video of Jason Fried of 37 Signals fame commenting on a wide set of topics. (http://vimeo.com/4717683) In standard controversial fashion, he stated that 37 Signals doesn't believe in planning, and doesn't do it. An unexpected and memorable statement sure, but it is also complete bunk. We have all seen planning go wrong and take on a life of its own. But it we all plan, every day, to get to work, get groceries, to throw a party. So what separates useful planning from the three thousand line Microsoft project file?
The basic problem with planning is the future factor. Planning is based on a map that is half wish, half fortune telling. It creates a path to follow by linking a desired future with some guesses about what will happen along the way. But wishes and fortunes are restless things, and do not sit around waiting for you to seek them out. The car is barely out of the driveway when an accident on I-70 blows a major hole in your plan, and you don't even know it yet. The plan is minutes old and the world has changed. New information is available. The plan is obsolete.
This would be less troubling if planning was free, but it's not. Planning takes time gather information, time to think, time to capture. That investment can seem a waste in the best case. In the worst case planning has become a plan that is too big and too important to realize it is obsolete. Instead of illuminating the path, it obfuscates it. Following the plan replaces thinking .
Yet planning is a natural element of thought and action. Choose a result to focus the mind. Build a chain of results to connect the start to the end. Do the first thing in the chain. We mentally plan anything we can't abstract into a single obvious action. It eliminates the noise of endless options, and gets us off our butts and doing something. It helps us match the result with the means to achieve it, so we don't try to buy a Lamborghini as a college student. We also get better at it. Tying shoes starts as a multistep loop and swoop process and ends rolled up in "put on shoes" or "get dressed".
Planning also grants the power to create a team. It orchestrates the efforts of individuals into a symphonic result. The detail and scope of the planning depends on the nature of the team and activity. Football teams use precision timing in the passing game, and general role assignments on defense. Effective military operations depend on layers of planning, from the coordination of a platoon to the movement of battalions. Without planning, there is no means to harness the power of the group.
Although planning is natural, effective planning requires the knowledge that planning can be both good and evil. It is an ongoing balancing act between over-analysis and running amok. The correct balance changes with every situation and with every change, making good planning as much art as science. Two principals can help in staying on the good side of planning: plan things that matter and keep plans agile.
Plan things that matter because planning is not free, and not everything matters. Of course what matters depends on what you are doing. Dinner plans in college may consist of getting hungry and heating up some ramen. A dinner party looks a little different. Project work has its own things that matter. Plan things to get started and move fast. Plan things the team needs to work together. Plan a way around things that could kill you or the effort. Leave the rest alone.
Keep plans agile because the tomorrow is coming. New information, new landmines, and new things that matter will be waiting. Effective planning is not a phase, it is layer of everyday activity. Thick plans crafted by committee over months suffocate rational thought in the shadow of their greatness. Plans that are "just enough" flex with new information. They embrace the new. Tomorrow is part of the plan.
Planning is a natural part of everything we do, but too much or too little becomes toxic. Don't worry about whether to plan, worry about how to plan well. Focus on what matters and keep plans malleable. "plan what matters" and "keep plans agile" may not be as memorable as "planning is dead", but it is a lot more helpful.
