Note: When I was in college postage was cheap, long distance telephone calls were expensive and e-mail hadn't been invented. I can remember being caught in a conundrum trying to communicate with the folks back home. Seemed like every time I sat down to write a letter, the time wasn't right. There was something pending and I wanted to wait until it materializd so I could send on results, not anticipation... be it about a test or the outcome of a game. I quickly learned a lesson that is the subject of this post: if you wait for just the right moment to do anything, the opportunity may pass you by altogether. Here's what I wrote a few years ago in one of my newsletter - with a couple of updated thoughts.
Now’s not the right time, is the most common reason I’m given in delaying the start of planning. Managers find themselves too busy because times are good or times are bad. As reasonable as the argument sounds it is a dangerous fallacy and following it only guarantees you’ll pay the cost of being unprepared for the future when it arrives. Keep in mind, the future is tomorrow.
The fact is, there is never a good moment to do planning, it always takes an inconvenient investment of time and energy. No one wants to stop when every thing is going well; no one will stop when success seems to be slipping away.
In this note I.ll point out some of the ways in which planning can be done more conveniently and provide some counsel as to how to handle the inherent distractions and costs of trying to build a plan while
continuing to deal with day to day issues.
Planning When Times are Good
There’s a strong case that growing organizations need planning most of all, because they are finally generating enough resources to present managers with strategic options. Without some planning profits can be wasted through inattention or, worse, squandered away through unthinking expenditure. A plan assures any extra nickels at the end of the day are invested wisely in enterprises that strengthen the organization’s position.
It’s hard to plan when things are going well because managers and staff are working hard to gather as much as they can while they can. During these growth spurts it makes sense to design a planning effort that places minimal demands on people. It is alright to delegate planning to a single person as long as that person gives everyone a chance to review the plan. Using a consultant may ease the burden, too.
The risk is that organizations without a plan will not get the most out of their profits and end up unprepared for the new challenges when they come.
Start up companies face a particualr challenge in terms of finding time to plan. In its earliest stages a new organization is often running as fast as it can to deal with everything growth throws at them. When things start to take off the daily pressure to meet demands that were never there beforre can exhaust start-up managers. These companies, more than any, need to take a day every now and then and catch breath and update their plan. The military uses the concept of "stand down" days... all but maintenance activity stops for a day, and everyone else focuses on what's working and what's not. A moment for refelction is often worth months of future success.
Planning during Hard Times
Action, any action, would seem the best way to keep going when survival is on the line, but it’s not the best strategy. A better approach is to plan an organization out of trouble. Making just the right decisions in the correct order is the only way to stop a downward spiral. Planning allows for the kind of analysis than can separate symptom from illness, temporary fix from long-term cure.
Again this may not be a good time to engage everyone - they have plenty to so during the crisis - but one person, probably with the help of the consultant can put together a plan that gets past survival to recovery and renewed growth. Make sure everyone reviews it and you should be okay.
There are plenty of examples of organizations that used difficult economic times, much like today’s, to refocus and retool so that when the turn-around did come they shot ahead of their competitors who were preoccupied with current conditions.
When is the Best Time to Plan?
Most organizations operate in cyclical environments. Nothing rises forever and few things fall eternally. Good planning takes the highs and lows of organizational or economic cycles into account.
The best moment to plan is just before a cyclical shift up or down. Boaters will recognize this as a slack tide that precedes the rush of ebbs and flows.
Planning then assures the organization is poised to enter a new phase with a plan ready to deal with the changes the future brings.
Strategically the trick is to extend upward momentum, to get a longer ride on the wave, or to shorten the downturn and reverse or reduce the slide. In either case, the organization is prepared to take advantage of a prosperous future or temper the impact of a tough one. Great success awaits the organization ready to reap the benefits of good times when they return.
Planning takes time, but in the long run it saves time because future decisions are surer, clearer and swifter. There is no getting around the inconvenience of planning; it always comes when you are busy. The effort, however, is rewarded in a somewhat
predictable, more controllable future.
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