THE POWER OF PLANNING by Joan Marques
Whatever failures I have known, whatever errors I have committed, whatever
follies I have witnessed in private and public life have been the
consequence of action without thought. (Bernard M. Baruch - copied from
cybernation.com).
While many of us fill out our daily schedule, make reservations for our
vacation later this year, or map out a strategy on how we will lead our
career or business from its current point to a desired future level, we
seldom assign too much thought to the value of this act. We just do it,
either because we learned that this is the right way, or because we
intuitively realize that it is the most sensible way to go. And we rarely
consider that we are actually planning: Every day of every week of every
month of every year.
Planning is the foundation of all our actions. And no one needs a degree in
management to admit that. But since we waded into this field: planning is
indeed one of the keystones of management, together with organizing,
leading, and controlling. Actually, planning can be seen as the foundation
of all these actions. There can, after all, be no organizing, leading, or
controlling without prior planning.
So, what is a plan? Derived from Baruch's openings statement in this
article, we could define it as "action with thought." Or we can be a bit
more specific and formulate it as "The formulation of a way to get from one
point to another." And managers know, like no other, that there are some
crucial questions at the foundation of establishing a plan. These questions
can be put in very simple wording:
1. What do I want?
2. Where am I now?
3. Where do I want to be in x-time?
4. What are the existing ways to get there?
5. Which of these ways is most suitable for me?
6. (If you are the responsible kind) What is the next suitable alternative
to the one decided upon in no. 5?
Now, the funny thing is that, subconsciously, we all repeat this process of
questioning ourselves regarding anything we do - continuously! It has
become an automatism within us. Even if we hardly pay any attention to it:
it's there.
To elaborate on point 6: that is your plan B in case you had not figured
that out yourself yet. Planning requires flexibility. And it requires
creativeness. It also requires regular involvement of those who have a stake
at what you do. These stakeholders could be family members, employees, or
team members, depending on the focus of your activity.
In fact, the best way to go about assuring that stakeholders feel maximally
involved in your plans is to apply the "Management By Objectives" idea, MBO,
in which you and the ones involved start out by developing the plan
together, then go your way and execute the part assigned to each of you, and
come together at pre-approved times to evaluate progresses, discuss
necessary changes, and review the goal on its actuality. It may very well be
that, due to the constant changes we are exposed to in today's world, our
initial goal will need revision, or even, reformulation! Remember this
little limerick at any time: "A trend is a trend is a trend. But the
question is, will it bend? Will it alter its course through some unforeseen
force and come to a premature end?" (Alec Cairncross - copied from
cybernation.com). Here is, thus, where the importance of flexibility and
creativeness come in: if the goal becomes obsolete for some reason, you
still have to try to make the time and effort invested till then worth
everyone's while. How? By altering the goal in a way that you can still use
the obtained experience and knowledge, yet formulate a new objective that
makes sense within the changed circumstances, while it is also satisfying to
all participants.
Planning is one of the greatest virtues that distinct us from other living
creatures. With our ability to relate to past occurrences, compare
concurrently executed goals (from others with similar objectives), and
envision future developments, we can anticipate and develop strategies to
realize even our most prestigious dreams: the secret lies in the power of
planning.
Therefore, "plan more than you can do, then do it. Bite off more than you
can chew, then chew it. Hitch your wagon to a star, keep your seat, and
there you are" (Source Unknown - copied from cybernation.com)
Joan Marques, Burbank, September 30, 2003
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About the Author:
Joan Marques, holds an MBA, is a doctoral candidate in Organizational
Leadership, and a university instructor in Business and Management in
Burbank, California. You may visit her web site at www.joanmarques.com
Joan's manual "Feel Good About Yourself," a six part series to get you over
the bumps in life and onto success, can be purchased and downloaded at:
http://www.non-books.com/FeelGoodSeries.html
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