Stick to the plan

I was wondering in a meeting recently (yes, I was not fully engaged in the meeting) how many times I've heard the phrase "We've got this great plan...".  Plans for new projects are like unwrapped Christmas presents - just full of unexpected great things that one day will be a new process or product.  Or at least that's the promise of the plan.

I've worked on a lot of different kinds of plans - to implement a large ERP software over several years, to create a brand new business and obtain VC funding, to launch a new product.  What I can tell you about every one of those plans is that they were wrong in some fundamental aspect.  Usually we get the broad strokes right, but I've yet to work on a significant project that did not suffer from one or more setbacks that were unforseen, which the plan did not address.

Why point out the seemingly obvious?  Because too often, once the team begins to notice that the current situation is not reflected in the plan, someone will say "We should stick with the plan".  It's as if a plan once written in the dim dark recesses of the past was handed down by the Almighty himself, and should not be tampered with.  Sticking to a plan that does not reflect reality is probably Einstein's other definition of insanity, yet many people do it.  Why?

- There's comfort in a documented, agreed plan.  To change the plan means leaving that well thought out document behind and adjusting to a new reality.  This means that on top of the change the project was already creating, we're going to add new change just as everyone was getting comfortable.

- Someone who wrote the plan might get angry.  To leave the confines of an existing plan, we will probably be changing the scope, timeframes, deliverables or other aspects of the plan.  That means a significant departure from what was agreed on previously.  Whose ox gets gored?  Who has to break the news?

- A plan shines a light into an otherwise murky future.  Leaving the plan means fumbling in the dark for a while until we can get a new plan in place.  This creates a ton of uncertainty for a team that is not well led.

Yes, even most rational people will want to stick to a plan that's clearly not reflective of the reality around it, since there is so much uncertainty leaving an existing plan.  Also, once a plan is re-written, there's a certain whiff of failure attached to the fact that the team did not live up to the plan.  I think what's important ultimately is not the details of the plan, but the expected outcomes.  Do we eventually deliver a product or process people want?  Is it of the best quality?  Did we build something we can all be proud of?  Don't let the plan take precedence over the delivery of the product or service you've envisioned.

Most military men will agree that plans go out the window at first contact with the enemy.  I'm not suggesting that you should frequently abandon your plans at the first sign of trouble in a project - just that the project and the plan are not sacrosanct.  The plan is a guide to help you achieve the ultimate deliverable, and should be malleable along the way to the deliverable.