‘Why Plan, when we are so busy already?’

When a person’s mind is already filled with numerous jobs to complete, having many deadlines to meet, he (or she) would find it difficult to squeeze out time for planning. This is typical for a busy person. The culture of our society also seems to support such behaviour; a busy executive is often considered to be an effective executive.

But efficiency is not effectiveness. A person lost in a forest can be very efficient (fast) in running, but very non-effective in getting out from it. He needs to plan first before acting. He needs to know the destination (objective), the method (strategy) and direction first before moving. Planning increases the chance of success and reduces the chance of failure.

In this era of changes, the only constant is change. Just repeating what was done in the past without anticipating change will almost certainly see failure.

Decisions made in team planning become references for behaviour; conflicts can thus be minimised; agreed objectives and strategies become a source of motivation. A ship navigating in the ocean needs tools --a compass and a map— for steering (control) in order to reach its destination. Planning, operations (action) and control are the three basic stages in management.

After planning, individuals or teams gain experiences through action. Through reflection on experiences and anticipation of future changes, better planning can be made for the next cycle. This is ‘action learning’ that is important for personal and organisational growth.

沒有空閒時間，仍要計劃？

1. 環境改變應要反應（變幻原是永恆）
2. 行動之前先確定目標, 方向
3. 增加成功的機會 , 減少失敗的機會
4. 有好指引，矛盾會較少
5. 增強激勵、恢復動力
6. 自我成長

Life management? Why and what to think about?

- why make a personal plan, when I am so busy already ?
- managing uncertainties and challenges: avoiding or confronting?
- understanding planning-- vision, mission, objectives, motivation, constraints, barriers, choice of strategies, risks, support, control
- analyzing external environments relevant to me--changes and impacts, opportunities and threats; filtering complexities
- understanding and empowering myself--assessing my philosophy, belief and values; identifying, balancing and capitalising on my roles and networks; hard and soft strengths and weaknesses, gaps to bridge, the importance of rest
- tailor-making a life path for myself-- overcoming external and internal challenges and barriers, assessing costs, benefits and impacts, drawing a life-path diagram, managing life assets; action learning; knowledge management; Free Agent approach; contingency planning and controls

I plan to write on these issues in future postings.