Qualities: PLANNING

By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail.
––Benjamin Franklin

No plan survives contact with the enemy.
––Axiom

He who every morning plans the transactions of the day and follows out that plan carries a thread that will guide him through the labyrinth of the most busy life. The orderly arrangement of his time is like a ray of life which darts itself through all his occupations. But where no plan is laid, where the disposal of time is surrendered merely to the chance of incident, chaos will soon reign.
––Victor Hugo

To plan is to practice, so that when the reality arrives we are dealing with it for the second time. To plan is to compensate for the absence of time to think later under the pressure of events. To plan is to decide what is needed when there is time to provide it. Improvisation is doomed to failure in serious endeavors.
––John Roberts


Whether going shopping or invading Europe, what is more exciting than a well-executed plan? Planning is organization, anticipation, preparation, reaction and change. Without a plan, you are all over the parking lot, like a drunk looking for his car. Planning is not only preparation, it is an endless part of the management process from the beginning thought to the final consequence. You must even plan for your own failure in order to minimize the damage.

In all my experiences as a manager and leader, my favorite question has been: “What is your plan?” Rarely have I received a thoughtful and organized reply. Most people react rather than anticipate. Most people cannot see beyond the end of their present circumstances, and are unable to develop contingencies for the alternatives they may face. The uncertainties of the future seem to generate fear and inertia rather than enthusiasm and aggressiveness. To plan for two possibilities seems to confuse them. To plan to do things that may never happen is to them a waste of effort. They do not see the value of the planned response and pride themselves on their ability to react to change without preparation. Planning to them is deciding the next step after the previous one is complete.

The first plan is merely the plan for all the plans to follow. Later, after events change the plan, it is necessary to adjust, to fall back on contingency plans, to create new ones quickly. Then, the ability to think under pressure is more important. And, the required resources must have been anticipated. People fail to plan because they are too busy putting out the fires of the moment. They never seem to catch up and have time or information to plan ahead. It is a discipline to plan while in the midst of the failed plans of the past.

There are many plans which most projects or actions call for:
1. Plan A: The Action Plan that gets most of the attention.
2. Plan B: The Backup Plans in case Plan A must be dropped.
3. Plan C: The Contingency Plans for reaction to anticipated events.
4. Plan D: The Disaster Plan, when everything goes completely to hell.
5. Plan E: The Exit Strategies after success or failure.
6. Plan F: The Forecast of enemy strengths, capabilities and intentions.
7. Plan G: The Great Success Plan to take advantage of enemy full retreat.
8. Plan H: The Help Plan of support to call on if things don’t go well.
9. Plan I: The In-Progress Plan of things to do after things get going.
Well, someday I will write a book using the whole alphabet. You get the idea. Plan, Plan, Plan, and then plan some more.