As the saying goes, no plan survives initial contact with the enemy. Unknowns derail the best of plans, which is why proper planning assumes there will are unknown factors that will appear, and the plan will adapt to them.
Of course, pointing this out to planners who love to make rigid plans that are expected to go on for years (I've seen a spreadsheet that had over 30,000 actions spread out over five years, broken down by week) is heresy.
When I pointed that out to a planner once, she said "your problem is that you keep thinking that cause and effect are related", to head nods by management.
Sometimes, you don't know if a project is failing until you're in the middle of it. And some, you can tell before it even starts.
As the saying goes, no plan survives initial contact with the enemy. Unknowns derail the best of plans, which is why proper planning assumes there will are unknown factors that will appear, and the plan will adapt to them.
Of course, pointing this out to planners who love to make rigid plans that are expected to go on for years (I've seen a spreadsheet that had over 30,000 actions spread out over five years, broken down by week) is heresy.
When I pointed that out to a planner once, she said "your problem is that you keep thinking that cause and effect are related", to head nods by management.
Sometimes, you don't know if a project is failing until you're in the middle of it. And some, you can tell before it even starts.
One more time, louder for the ones at the back.
This is such a fundamental concept that most humans fail to grasp.
She's the hero we need.
This way of thinking is what leads to fall of civilizations.