“Plans are of little importance. But planning is essential.”
– Winston Churchill
The Green Bay Packers (and most other successful football teams) typically “script” the first dozen or so offensive plays of each game. Once the game begins, though, all bets are off if the defense shows something that gives them reason to change, to literally “call an audible.”
So it is with our business plans. The better they are, the less likely they are to resemble what happens in the end.
Because it’s about the process.
General George S. Patton, another fairly significant World War II era dude (and a frequent DD contributor!), said repeatedly that a good plan executed today is better than a perfect plan tomorrow.
Possibility thinking and contingency thinking are magical elements because the game favors the prepared mind, and the mind honors the prepared body.
Is our team scripted for the opening drive? Are we confident enough in them to give them the leeway to alter course if warranted? How have we prepared them for that possibility and how will we instill in them the confidence to call their own audible?
The plans for these questions might end up being of little importance. But the process of planning for them is essential.
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