How do you get started?
Some things need to be planned well in advance. Other things you can endeavor in a moment. What is the difference? Let's talk first about those things which you can do on the fly.
I think the difference is expertise, expectation and necessity.
Expertise: When you are really good at something; you do it regularly, sometimes these activities need no planning. Even when you take on new activities within the arena, results are often good because of your existing tangential knowledge and capability. Here, you may see a shoe repair shop begin working on saddles, or a bicycle mechanic be comfortable working on lawnmowers because, while the power source is different, the power train is very similar.
Expectation: If no one has any expectation of success, or specific result, it is easy to wing it and still win. I believe many inventions are created in this environment, and at the opposite end, specific planning in the area of "new widget" innovation is likely throttling at best. I think we can all agree that, no one expected the iPod.
Necessity: This is the biggest one...and I will quote one of my favorite fictional characters, John McClain, in saying "...no one else was doing it..." You see, in order to innovate or move forward, one must put themselves in uncomfortable situations. Sometimes things go awry; that's when necessity takes over and you "have" to do something. This is when you grab two items and combine them, McGuyver-like, and create something new.
When is planning necessary? Well, in my experience, planing is critical anytime your outcome depends on more than the individuals in your "pocket". If you require input from outside suppliers, or if you require a group of employees to perform tasks on a timely basis then you need to plan. You can get away with "winging-it" in a very small business where you are the "dictator" of all/most situations. Your leadership will carry the others through. But, as soon as it grows beyond that handful of trusted resources. You need a plan.
Tomorrow's entry will be about how to formulate a plan, and what to do with it.
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2 comments:
I think planning is also very important when the changes or things you're doing have a broad reach that will affect users or customers. For instance, change management for a technical modification of a system that could potentially bring it down. Like... adding a new apache module that could bring down an ad-serving farm. ;)
Thanks Philip M.
You are absolutely right. But keep in mind that the "..best laid plans of mice and men, often go awry..."
Philip is referring to a specific situation in which he saved my bacon. We actually had an intricate plan against which we had successfully executed, but reached the limitations of our resource (Apache at the time). Fortunately, I had hired the "RIGHT" resources (Philip M) and we discovered the issue, responded rapidly, and saved the project. We did cause some disruption, but had communicated the potential well in advance, and were notified early on of issues. So, MANAGING RISK becomes very important in your plan.
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