Where's The Value In Creating A Plan?

Last week one of my clients asked me for guidance in?creating a plan?so that they could connect?their vision to their present-day reality.

They had fantastic ideas on what could be possible in the long term, and they had a good grounding on what was going on right now, but they were struggling because?they didn't know everything they needed to put in?place to make it happen.?

Their boss was putting pressure on them to communicate their?plan to?show that they knew what they were doing. They were being asked to predict the future, and they felt under pressure?to get it right.?

But where did the real value lie in creating this plan? And was an accurate step-by-step outline of how to create the future?something that's even?possible??

When you’re trying to make something happen that you’ve never done before, how on earth can you know everything you need to do to get there?

Plans can be really useful, but?the mistake we make is thinking that in order to be successful we must have a plan which is accurate.?

If you’re delivering something that you know how to do, that has already been delivered, then a plan can be really useful to help you deliver.?

But?if you’re trying to create something visionary?which has never really been done before, then the purpose of a plan isn't to predict exactly what will happen. Instead, the?plan is there to get you started, bring people together, and build confidence?that there is a possible route to getting there.

When you’re creating something new in the world, plans are less about accurate delivery?and more about helping?people get over their worries and anxieties so you can get stuck in.?

If you really want to understand the value of a long term?plan, just?take a look at your the things you've planned in?your?life, and how they've unfolded.

How much of it has gone the way you expected? And how many things have happened that you just didn’t expect?

After speaking to my client last week I did a bit of reflection on?my last 5 years…?there’s absolutely no way I could have planned to be where I am now, or that I could have delivered on the plan I had then. Breaking it down to what?I planned for each year, even then?I can see I was a long way off. (Scroll down to get a summary of my life over the last 5 years,?and you'll see what I mean).

The pandemic messed up everyone's plans, but even if it hadn't happened I don't think I could?have predicted the way my life and my work would evolve - because?things happened that I didn’t know about and couldn't have anticipated.?

If I’d planned a bit more could I have created more of the life I thought I wanted??

I don’t think so.

The value of the plan was that it got me to take action and try new things.?I discovered more in getting started on the plan than I ever could have in getting the?plan right?- and it’s amazing how I have adapted and evolved as I’ve gone along.

For me the real value I get from?creating a plan is:

• to?build my confidence?that the action I take will take me in the direction I want to go
• to?help others understand my actions?and get their buy-in along the way.

I do use plans, but I no longer get stuck trying to get them right.?

I use them to get me?and others going, and I’m much better at trusting myself to adapt along the way.

What value do you see in creating plans?

Do you use them to try to predict and control the future? Or are they to get you going too?

How accurately have your plans worked out for you?

My life, not going to plan... but successful anyway!

5 years ago...?I was preparing to get married, immersed in my job at Digital Creativity Labs, and building Pac-Man snowmen!! My plan for the next few years?was to have kids, create the best centre for games research in the UK, and possibly start my own business.

4 years ago...?I was in New York City, taking 6 months out travelling around the USA and Europe. After so much intensity in bidding for and setting up research centres, I’d burned out. I started putting foundations in place to build the coaching business I’d always dreamed of and I planned to do it so that it fit alongside adopting kids.

I’d?also?just discovered I could paint, and was thinking it was time to?get a puppy.

3 years ago...?I’d just returned from an amazing trip to La Connor, Washington doing some coach?training, I was learning to market my business by building my profile on linked-in and enquiries were coming through. I'd just decided to focus on working with women in tech. We had a 6-month-old Labradoodle puppy (Layla), and we'd started the approval process for adoption. A global pandemic was just about to hit!

2 years ago...?I’d just welcomed 7 women into the 2nd cohort of my mentorship programme and was so excited about its potential. I was still focused on?my business despite everything going quiet during lockdown.?Things were starting to pick up.?We’d had relationship challenges, and decided not to adopt, but again things had started to stabilise.

And I was building a portfolio of art - something I would have never even thought I could do.

A year ago...?my husband told me he wanted to separate. My business was struggling once again as my clients worried about the cost of living crisis. Layla kept me sane amongst it all and I discovered I could doodle and that people were interested in buying my art.

Today...?I’m nearly divorced, back working in the corporate world, in a job that came out of nowhere. I?have had the most successful year of?business,?and am continuing to build it?alongside my job. My mentorship programme is still running and I’m seeing so many amazing?shifts in my clients.

My life?doesn’t look anything like I predicted,?or that I could have anticipated 5 years ago.?In fact, most of the plans I've had have?completely failed,?but I'm so proud of myself and where I am today. I feel happy in where I am, despite all the challenges, and it's interesting to notice how?my success has emerged in different ways from what I imagined.?

I'm so much better at enjoying whatever gets thrown my way.?

Where were you 5 years ago? What were your hopes, plans and dreams??

Could you have seen (and planned for) where you are today? Or did those plans help guide you in a different way??

Planning and goal setting are often taught in development programmes as being the things you must have to be successful. In my Authentic Tech Leaders Mentorship Programme we approach things differently. We look at the tools people use and ask where and how they bring value. We check what we're trying to achieve and what success means for us and then use this to guide us. Having a plan can be useful and inspiring, and it can lead to us feeling demotivated and overwhelmed. The power and impact comes from knowing what to use when.

I'm currently recruiting for the next cohort of amazing women in tech to join the programme, starting on 27th March. Find out more here, or DM me if you have any questions.

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