Do the planning, and be ready to ditch the plan!
I used to work in an office that formulated future years’ budgets for an executive agency.
We had a saying: “budgets are plans, and plans change.”
The process of budget formulation allowed us to think through program costs and anticipated performance outcomes, and articulate these in a way that would persuade congressional appropriators to fund the programs.
It also forced us to get clear on the priorities for the office, and know what tradeoffs we would make if needed.
Planning is a useful exercise.
It broadens your options. It helps you expand.
It allows you to imagine possibility. It helps you expand your ability to see new things.
As you engage in planning, you are also becoming. Who you are being expands as you engage in planning.
Planning is a process.
In life and in business, I’ll choose to focus on process every single time.
Here’s why: process is within your control.
Be ready to ditch the plan.
Plans are rigid in nature.
They lock you in.
They narrow your options.
They close you off to other possibilities.
Photo by Caleb Jones
Strengthen your tolerance for ambiguity.
Your ability to be comfortable with uncertainty is a skill you need to develop.
How can you develop this skill?
Get good at scenario planning. Develop multiple scenarios for different paths forward.
Get good at prioritization. Know what matters most. This may be a value you won’t compromise, or it may be knowing what strategic activities yield your most impactful results.
Get good at risk planning. Anticipate what obstacles you might encounter and how you will mitigate them.
Get good at contingency planning. If something goes wrong, how will you recover?
Engaging in the process of planning is incredibly useful and will position you to handle whatever unexpected things come up.
Don’t get too attached to the plan though, and be ready to pivot into a new scenario, proactively mitigate your risks, and know how you will recover when things inevitably go wrong.
Add to this a willingness to stay curious and be creative, and you will soar.
You’ve got this.
Love,
Audrey