Do We Still Need to Plan?

Especially in a society where everyone wants instant results and where changes are happening very fast, many may be asking if planning is a waste of time. After all, plans have come and go and yet, things have hardly changed for the better. In not a few cases, they have become like musician’s notes about problems and solutions everyone wants to hear for comfort and not a blueprint to be followed.

In other words, planning is useless in a highly dynamic environment. It unnecessarily and rigidly ties management to today’s concerns at the expense of the future.

But does it really need to be? Whether developments are happening fast or slow, they are still the results of cause-and-effect relationships of various factors. Understanding these factors and their relationships enable us to identify realistic goals and the best paths to them that are not really affected by the rapidity of apparent (which could be distracting) changes. The better and deeper that understanding is and the more they are grounded on root causes, the more our plans can withstand changes. We do not need to change our plans every time a “tremor” happens in the business environment.

In a rapidly changing environment, more planning is needed, not less. That is, honest-to-goodness planning, not instant plans formulated by gathering everyone to register their wishes without much thought or study. Hastily and easily prepared plans hastily and easily succumb to changes. Why? Because their foundations are shallow. They are gone quickly. They cannot stand up to the first gust of wind, e.g., political wind.

Alignment of vision, mission, goals, strategies, activities, and budgets is important. It is important not only for effectiveness and efficiency but for synergy. As Aristotle said, “The whole is greater than the sum of its parts.” Weak alignment runs the risk of failure in the face of shaking by the winds of uncertainties. Scarce resources are squandered on distractions and on strategies that do not achieve goals even if they are efficiently implemented. Strategies should not only be implemented right, but foremost, they should be the right strategies.

In the face of changing possibilities, Wildly Important Goals (WIGs) should be identified and focused on. WIGs are what really matter, not just a banner that we are heading somewhere. Many goals that are countable or measurable do not necessarily count. Goals should not only be SMART but effective and efficient, stretch capacity, and “tantalizing” to stakeholders, especially those who will work for them. In short, goals should not only be SMART but SMARTEST.

Measurements or metrics are important. They clarify and strengthen accountabilities and define what success looks like. If it is a journey, vision, mission, goals, strategies, activities, and budgets have their “coordinates,” e.g., quantity, quality, place, and timeliness, for which we can set milestones to know whether we are heading closer to where we want to go or not.

Without measurement or metrics, any improvement is success. Questions or oppositions surely will be less because no one can question or oppose something that can be anything. Success is assured even before one has begun.

In sum, in a rapidly changing environment, more and thorough planning is needed, not less. With a good plan, one can go about unperturbed as changes whirl around. The chess player who has thought his moves through to the very end can sit and sip his coffee while his opponent panics.