Have you ever pictured someone writing code or drafting a blueprint for their next building project?  You probably think of this person either typing away at his/her keyboard or meticulously drawing away at their next masterpiece.  Sure it gets to a point where these skilled craftsmen are able to actually work like this, but before this “real” work can happen a plan of action must be developed.

In an office setting, I have sat at my desk with my feet up portraying the appearance of staring into space.  My boss would walk by and kind of give me a look along the lines of ‘what the heck are you doing?’  He would find it especially interesting that I didn’t jump up and pretend to go to work on my computer when he came by.  Why is that – because I was sitting there thinking.  I was running through a number of scenarios in my head, taking notes when needed, but thinking about a plan of attack on how to tackle the next assignment.   The same thing can be applied to any aspect of life.  Think of the last vacation you went on.  Did you start to pack right away and then pack way too much or forget a number of things?  Did you make a list of items that you needed to bring and then pack?  Was this list generic (i.e. 5 pairs of pants, 5 shirts, toiletries) or more specific (1 pair of khakis, 1 pair of Levis Jeans, 1 pair of Dockers Black trousers, etc.)?  Or were you one to go up, pull out the suitcase and go through drawer by drawer and figure it out on the spot?

The classic example of planning versus execution deals with the NFL.  Each week coaches and players alike will spend upwards of 100 hours to set a game plan in place for their upcoming match-up.  The total execution time is 60 minutes or 1 hour.  They plan out just about every scenario.  Even though every team has 3 Quarterbacks on their roster and the odds of having each one of them hurt in the same game is very slim, each team has an emergency quarterback who is a position player who may have played quarterback as far back as high school.  I wouldn’t be surprised if each team also had a 2nd backup.

The NFL is the standard as far as planning goes.  In the real world, unfortunately we are not able to anticipate or prepare for issues as easily as in the NFL.  This doesn’t mean it is impossible, but rather that it just takes more time upfront.  The problem is that most project plans are created very early on in the project with little time spent on creating the actual plan.  This allows for more time to be spent on each deliverable in the plan.  Think about it – the project plan for a project that could have costs of $1 million or more, with a timeline of over a year was crafted in a week.  Maybe 2 weeks.  Heck, I’ll even give you 3 weeks.  After those 3 weeks, the boss wanted to start seeing results as the 1 year deadline was looming.   Well, the result could end up being a project that wasn’t planned properly, went over budget or any of a number of other things that could go wrong.

Next time you are looking to get a project going or are looking for immediate results for a newly commissioned project, think about things a little differently.  Act as if it is a game plan and not a project plan.  One that you want to see executed to perfection, not one that ‘will have to be tweaked over time’.  And remember, individuals may plan best via different planning techniques.  Just because sitting with my feet up looking as though I am daydreaming works for me, doesn’t mean this will work for you (or with your boss!).