“Can you help me get better at planning because my team needs more of it from me?” The fact that a leader asked this question in a recent workshop should be celebrated.
Why?
The leader had become aware of their blind spot in planning and had the motivation to find solutions for their own leadership development.
Please Understand Me
People Who Resist Planning…PRP’s…don’t naturally identify the process to move a project forward. They don’t easily list what it will take to get from where they are to where they need to be.
They’re not great at getting across finish lines. It takes significant energy and focused attention to converge on the steps necessary to bring closure to a project/process/plan. That convergence is mentally exhausting.
PRP’s don’t have an internal rhythm that moves them in an orderly way step by step by step.
What can look like unnecessary chaos from the outside, is an internal striving (often without awareness) to keep the path forward open. Becoming aware of this pattern opens the door for greater agency, for empowered action.
Planning Hacks for PRP’s
If your Why is clear, and you’ve practiced some Acceptance & Appreciation, now you’re ready for some hacks. (more on the backstory of Acceptance & Appreciation here…)
1. Brainstorming as Planning. If you naturally ideate, then use your brainstorming energy to generate possible planning solutions. Identify key project milestones. What are some steps that could be taken?
Do the same thing to figure out a sequence of steps that could work. Trust that you can change it up later, but prototype it. Then refine.
For example, if you’re creating a presentation deck, use the View/Slide Sorter function to see the overview and move slides around until the order makes sense.
This also works with post-it notes or index cards, record one idea or step on each. The flexibility of this approach is supportive for PRP energy.
2. Race the Clock. If you instinctively ideate and resist planning, you need to treat planning as a sprint. Set a timer. Give yourself a finite amount of time.
What’s happening is that you’re overriding your natural tendency to keep your options open…you have to move toward convergence of a plan. You may feel the resistance to limiting the path forward, but if you’re clear on why it matters and race the clock, you’ll give yourself the best chance of getting at least a draft plan in place.
You’ll be surprised by how much you can get done in a short time and relieved that you’re done planning. Celebrate!
3. Adaptability as Advantage. Don’t try to create your own system for planning, it’s too big of a lift for someone with so little planning energy.
Pick a planning process…the simpler the better…then give yourself permission to adapt it to work for you.
I started using Brian Moran’s 12 Week Year in January, but I had to simplify it, using only the elements that felt essential for me. Then I fell off the planning wagon with midsummer travel. Now I’m back on track and happily starting a new 12WY in the middle of August…12WY3.5 works for me.
4. Minimum Viable Planning. Creating a planning system that is simple enough to be supportive, while requiring very little time and energy to maintain, is key for PRP’s.
Remember that you don’t have much energy for planning. You need to create a simple approach that works for you.
5. Finish Lines Are Your Friend. PRP’s can benefit from shifting their mindset around finish lines.
Clarifying the goal line, giving yourself a carrot of following a planning sprint with a task or project where you are in the flow, in your groove, can be the motivation you need to get essential planning done.
Next Up
Are you a leader wondering how you and your organization can support People Who Resist Planning? Do you want to leverage their contributions of flexibility and adaptability?
In the next article, I’ll share solutions for leaders and orgs to embrace PRP’s as the valuable contributors that they are and support their success.
