Planning...more important than the Plan? Why do we say "planning is more important than the plan" and yet oftentimes a plan, if there is one is created, is copied from a, hopefully, similar previous project. This 'plan' is then thrust upon the Project Team and in one fell swoop this 'plan' becomes sacrosanct with little or no buy-in from the Project and blind acceptance by almost all participants. And again, how often is the plan flawed, inappropriate and eventually ignored only to be replaced by a series of workarounds that allow a muddling through until a real plan eventually emerges (hopefully). We know that action without a plan is a nightmare, but if a plan is flawed nobody has time to think, let alone dream about effective action.

Planning can sometimes be construed as a waste of time by the uninitiated but this is a truism if a definitive plan is not produced or the plan remains in somebody’s head. However, planning actually saves time as it prevents the muddle that can so often occur between the start and close of a project when ,in reality, a good 'middle' is needed. Time allowed for planning gives the Project Manager (and the team) the opportunity to explore the avenues that may, or may not, lead to a successful project. Through these exploratory trips to create possible approaches to executing the project in hand, the Project Team is allowed to make, develop or even abandon assumptions and also identify, assess and mitigate risks, be they real or imagined. The effective or innovative use of resources, and dealing with interfaces and interdependencies may all be addressed during ‘planning’ rather during a crisis. Once a plan has been developed, and as we all know, no plan is perfect, things may well go awry. The team that has planned may have encountered such a scenario during their planning and, metaphysically, "have been there before" and a way-out can be more readily seen than if there is a single-source-solution only. Time spent on planning, that is to say effective and documented planning, is seldom wasted. It has been said that luck occurs when opportunity meets preparation and that there are no lucky Project Managers, just well prepared ones. In the same vein, and as several famous golfers have said "the more I practice the luckier I get", the Project Manager who plans more, or rather spends more time planning, is more likely to be able to deal with scenarios that can throw a project off course or, even better, avert them. Planning allows for options and associated risks and opportunities to be considered in developing the optimal 'plan'. This 'plan' will not be perfect. If, or rather when, the plan goes wrong one shouldn't need to depend on luck as, with prior planning behind you, you may have thought about such circumstances before and come to a solution more readily than an unprepared practitioner.

Planning...more important than the plan...I think so!