(1808 posts)
Nov 19, 2008 6:10 pm
Planning
Over the years, I've heard a number of catchy sayings people have about planning. I am a detail-oriented person, with the occasional flare-up of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). Some folks refer to this as being anal retentive. I just like details and planning. My backpacking buddy says I like the planning part more than the backpacking part. It probably started with a carpenter who knows how far back with, "Measure twice, cut once," and it's absolutely right. My freshman year of high school, I kinda had to rework my blueprints because I didn't leave enough scrap wood to square everything. My mom's cedar chest turned out to be a bit smaller than expected. I failed to take the truing of the wood into my measurements when I cut things out. An error in planning.
Steven Covey's "The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People" was required reading at a job I had 15 years ago. We actually had to write a book report and present it to the CEO, just so he would know we had read it! I affectionately call this book "The 7 Habits of Highly Defective People". In my opinion, some of what Covey says is great, but in corporate America we're often restrained by limited budgets and resources for training. But, one of his principles rings true: begin with the end in mind. See the destination, plan how to get there, execute the plan.
SCUBA diving has its own adage. Plan the dive, dive the plan. You plan everything out, you stick to that plan, and you won't have what my medical malpractice friend calls "an unanticipated outcome". SCUBA diving can be deadly business, so it makes sense to know the dangers, plan accordingly, then follow that plan.
Dick Marcinko, a former Navy SEAL and founder of Seal Team Six (the elite, hand-chosen counter-terror unit) had his own version known as "The 7 P's": Prior Proper Planning Prevents Piss Poor Performance.
The really cool dojo we have? The result of great planning, and execution of the plan.
I can hear my gentle readers saying, "OK Sloan. We get the picture. Planning is important."
Yes, that's true. This whole thing has brought me to the question of why is there always enough time to do it right the second time? Why couldn't we do it right the first time?
I hate re-work: fixing things that were half-assed together for any number of reasons/excuses. In my daily life as a technician working in a telephone central office I get to see, document and eventually try to fix (as much as possible) the defects left by previous guys, be they former employees or contractors who install equipment. Sure, there was a lack of training and learning by fire when we started installing all of the central office equipment ourselves. Yes, the time restraints were often unreasonable and budget restraints prevented overtime. But any number of people could have said, "No," along the way, and didn't.
But now, I see the amount of man hours it takes to fix years of neglect. In my own offices, I have installed over 200 crimp-on terminals for ground wire, just so equipment would be properly grounded by all of those cool technical specifications somebody wrote. We bought a company in Florida in mid-2007. Teams of top, hand-picked technicians were assembled for months of working 12 or more hours at night, often for weeks before a day off to simply do laundry, at an expense of tens of millions of dollars, simply to fix things that weren't right for one reason or another. Why? Planning (or the lack thereof).
We are the only ones with the power to do it right the first time. Whether you choose to allow your work and your life to be affected by other people's ideas/constraints/dealines/funding is fully up to you.