All Plans are Tentative – Part 2
Previous Posts in this series:
All Plans are Tentative – Part 1
Leading on from the previous posts in this series, we will continue to explore insights to help you effectively apply the all plans are tentative mindset…
Pick at the Scabs
Identity the painful spots and dig…
Identify the areas where either you or other people show discomfort or uncertainty around a particular topic or subject; then choose to dig into them fist.
It is a human tendency to want to avoid pain meaning people will try and avoid areas where they are either uncertain (exposing their lack of knowledge) or there have previously been challenges leaving residual problems to solve (highlighting past failures).
These problem areas often house the greatest degrees of uncertainty so exploring them first is the best thing you and do to bring more certainty to your plans.
This is not about making other people or yourself uncomfortable for the sake of it; it is about being willing to facing in to the hardest challenges first so that you can then build momentum towards achieving your goal.
Uncovering the Critical Path
The essential road to success…
The scabs, or the hard part, can be the most time consuming and challenging areas of your plan to face into. This means the sooner you start the work, the sooner it will end.
The minimum amount of time it will take to complete all known tasks in the order they can soonest be started is referred to as the critical path for success.
Sometimes it may be that one task must be completed before another as the output from one starts the next; other times it may simply be that there are only so many hours in the day to get things done and you can only do one thing at once.
Either way, there will be a rationale for why the work must be ordered in a particular way.
The sooner you are clear about your critical path, the sooner you can begin to increase confidence in your delivery or, more importantly, the better you will be able to manage yours and other people’s expectations about how long things will take and how confident you are.
Be Transparent, Open, and Honest
What it says on the tin…
Transparency, openness, and honesty – three essential ingredients required to make the all plans are tentative mindset work.
We must embody all of these traits when sharing our appraisal of our plans. Get this bit wrong and you will simply be viewed as someone unwilling to be bold and commit.
Get them right and you will get buy in and support from all your stakeholders as you embark on the journey of delivery together.
Collective, not Siloed
Gaining group commitment…
This insight applies more to a work context than a personal one.
All plans are tentative applies to everyone in the team, not just to the people facing in to senior stakeholders and managing expectations.
Expectation management starts from the ground up and is founded on open and transparent communication. As people learn new things, encourage them to share and be open.
Learning and new information is always a good thing – provided it is not wasteful!
When working as a team and refining the plan, ask for everyone’s opinion about the plan and test out the words you will use to describe the team’s confidence in the plan with other people.
What you are looking for is a collective commitment from the team on the plan as a whole, not just buy in from each individual to complete their little bit of it.
Yes, we need the bits doing, but as new things emerge and we learn more, we need people to be nimble and flex their focus. This only happens when there is a collective commitment to achieve the outcome rather than a self-centred commitment to just complete my little bit.
The parts make the whole but is it only the whole that has value.
Complex vs Complicated
A difference that can make a big difference….
Complexity is the main reason why all plans must be tentative.
If something is complicated it has lots of moving parts but fundamentally each can be understood and challenges worked though given enough time and effort.
If something is complex it means there are lots of overlapping layers of information to be uncovered and that there is a very high probability new aspects and insights will continually emerge over time.
Knowing the difference between the two is key to understanding how and when to apply the all plans are tentative mindset and as such effectively managing the expectations of all involved.
Benefits and Practical Applications
All plans are tentative is a mindset that reduces pressure and aids focus.
When we are transparent about what we know and don’t know, we can then avoid committing to achieving things that are either outside of our control or beyond the current remit of our understanding.
This is primarily a tool which I developed initially in my professional life however, I now have this as my default mindset in all aspects of life.
When we truly accept that not all outcomes are not certain the realisation reduces the clinging of the mind to the outcome. We become more engaged and enriched by the journey to achieve the goal rather than simply being absorbed by and focussed on the goal.
In the spinning the chair tool, I shared the story of the farmer giving insight into how we never really know what is good or bad. All plans are tentative embraces this perspective on life and allows us to be fluid in our direction of travel.
We are making a commitment to constant learning and in stating that our plans our tentative, reserving the right to pivot our direction of travel to move towards what now makes sense where it did not before.
Life is unpredictable,
and if we are honest with ourselves…
all plans are tentative is the only real way to approach anything.
Enjoy, for now.