Why success requires good planning

If you want to achieve a goal successfully, it is much easier to get there with a plan. We humans are constantly planning, usually even unconsciously. How we want to organize our day, how we want to deal with our fellow human beings, how we want to organize the dog when we are away, when we should plan vacations and where, and what we want to take on vacation for what purposes and for what weather.

For our family planning, it can be enough to sit down at the table for a short time and discuss things together. This means that planning does not necessarily require a great deal of effort. We generally only plan very systematically for larger, important and long-term projects. Hardly anyone would think of building a house without a plan.

The same applies to planning within the company. Every company has numerous plans , even if they have not yet been condensed into a comprehensive strategy or (long-term overall plan, overall picture). First principles are almost always available somewhere.

A good plan shows you how you can achieve your goals at a reasonable price. Favorable characteristics of a plan are in particular

High probability of success
Good orientation and less stress
As little cost and time as possible
Good coordination, e.g. with other plans
Good allocation of resources on the way to the goal
Avoiding risks and unpleasant surprises
Flexibility in changing circumstances
High motivation, even with obstacles and detours
Holistic instead of piecemeal
Clever approach to competition

By the way:

The word “plan” goes back to the Latin word plantāre → “to plant”. Today we associate the word with, among other things, a (land) map, a design, a floor plan and, on the other hand, a well thought-out project or an idea of a course of action.

Our colloquial language emphasizes the importance of a plan. If someone” hasno plan “, then they have“no idea“. So if you don’t yet have a plan for your project, you should make one first. Start with a napkin or a sheet of A4 paper.