“Plans are worthless, but planning is everything.” – Dwight D. Eisenhower
This pandemic has made it clearer that plans are useless.
But the process of building plans, improves inherent agility. The scenarios, the alternatives, the premortems, the what ifs and the space for the unknown. All these help us to explore different areas that we would have been blinded by, if there was no planning.
It does not eliminate blindspots. Nothing does. But planning reduces blindspots.
“Everybody has a plan until they get punched in the mouth.” – Mike Tyson
And so when you get into the ring, and life punches you in the mouth, you are already trained to have reflex actions that keep you from falling or being badly injured. You have trained muscles of alternative thinking, so even without a workable plan, you bounce back and look for the opportunities in the situation.
– Osasu Oviawe