Planning

Types of planning:

* Envisioned Future: 10 to 30 years. Here, a vivid description is gathered from the data and molded into several BHAGs (Big, Hairy, Audacious Goals).

* Critical Factors: 5 to 10 years. What are and will be the mega issues? What are some basic assumptions (based on best-available data) about the future (what will we be doing, what will we look like, etc.)? What will be our guiding strategic principles?

* Strategic Planning: 3 to 5 years. Strategic planning efforts define the short- and long-term goals, objectives and strategies needed to turn plans into action.

* Action Planning: 1 to 2 years. The organization sets priorities, plans programs and incorporates actions into the overall operational/day-to-day planning. It's at this point, just when all seems in sync, that the horizon turns from a flat line into a circle, and the process begins again.

A few points about Planning

1. Having a plan puts you back in control.
2. Planning is the only way things can get better.
3. Planning allows you to set priorities and to allocate resources effectively.
4. A plan shows you (and others) how to spend your time.
5. Planning is the key to staying ahead of the curve and the competition.
6. A good plan motivates and inspires.
7. People follow the person with a plan.
8. Planning permits you to spend less energy on putting out other people's fires and start building some of your own.

There's nothing mysterious about planning. It's just looking beyond the moment and visualizing how things might work out. It's playing out possible scenarios in your mind. Planning is weighing possibilities and choosing alternatives. It's putting a name on your dream. Planning is deciding what's desirable and figuring out how to make it happen.

Most of all, planning is simply asking the right questions and plugging in the right answers answers that are right for you and your organization.


Make Plans, Not Excuses, Supervision [0039-5854] Ramsey yr:2003 vol:64 iss:2 pg:14 -16. Plan or Die!, Professional Safety [0099-0027] Kendrick yr:2004 vol:49 iss:3 pg:8
GESCHICHTE UND GESELLSCHAFT 34 (3): 305-326 JUL-SEP 2008 Year: 2008 Abstract: During the era of modernity