Cliche #10 - The Value of a Plan

Frank's management cliche #10:

“The real value of a plan is not in stating what to do, but in defining the universe of what not to do”

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Explanation:

I have always been a big fan of planning. In fact, every organization I’ve been responsible for in the last twenty years has written and executed a plan. Some plans encompassed whole companies. Maybe some managers who have written them over the years will comment. Here is my favorite example of how plans go wrong if not managed closely and “the universe of what not to do” creeps into a manager’s world.

We had recently completed a comprehensive plan for the entire company when I received a call from Mary, our controller. “Hi Frank, We’re (the accounting department) meeting with a software vendor today at lunch to talk about new time keeping system and they’re bringing in lunch, do you want to join us?” I was busy at lunch and I thanked her for asking and declined. After I hung up I continued thinking about her request and called her back. “Hi Mary, I was just wondering why you are meeting with this software company since new timekeeping software isn’t in the very comprehensive plan you gave me last week for your department that covers at least 12 months of activity”. She objected saying that our timekeeping software had never worked well. “Then why wasn’t it in your plan?” I continued, “Not only that, but the IT group also has a comprehensive plan for the next year that doesn’t include researching and installing new time keeping software. The manufacturing group, which would take the brunt of the disruption in learning to use a new timekeeping methodology, also has a comprehensive plan that doesn’t include new timekeeping software. And last, but not least, the maintenance department, which would have to install the new timekeeping hardware does not have this in their plan”. “That’s the reason we wrote a plan and coordinated the activities of all the departments so that their respective resources wouldn’t get pulled in whatever direction some other department dictated. So now I’m wondering why you would waste your department’s time and the vendor’s time exploring a project that has zero chance of moving forward for at least a year. If new timekeeping software really is a critical need for the company, you should propose it in next year’s plan and if it survives the planning process, all the other departments will also have it in their plans. If that happens, then it would be a good idea to start meeting with potential vendors. Remember my cliché, “Decide what is important and then call vendors, not the other way around”.

I think Mary actually carried through with meeting the software company since it was already arranged, but I didn’t hear another word about installing a new timekeeping system. It was a good teaching moment for Mary where she learned that one of the main reasons for writing a plan is to define what we weren’t going to work on that year.

That's what I think.  Tell me what you think.