The Best Laid Plans….
One of my professors in graduate school had previously taught at the War College. I think it may have been from him that I learned the idea that even the best plan doesn’t survive beyond the first encounter with the enemy. I have no doubt that’s accurate, but I much prefer the quote from the poet Robert Burns in his poem “To A Mouse.” His version is: “The best laid plans of mice an’ men / Gang aft agley.” I love that Scots phrase. It’s so much more evocative than simply plans go awry.
Of course, the reality is that plans do go awry and often in spectacular fashion. The leadership task then is two-fold. Creating the best plans possible and then being able to manage when things “gang aft agley.”
My plans for this year 2024 were, of course, well thought-out and designed. I’ve even shared them with you but the reality is they were going agley early on. And this past month was the most agley of all. (I have no idea if that’s a proper usage of the word. I just like it.) Concurrent with me planning my be-healthy-get-stuff-done goals, we were learning just what it takes to handle a mold infestation in our home. Spoiler alert: it takes a lot. Luckily, it’s just everyday mold that is in the air all around us. We just had more mold inside our air conditioner than outside, and it was busily spreading the stuff through the house.
The plan was to spend two weeks in a nearby hotel but every one of the different tasks that had to be done took longer than planned, so we spent four weeks in the hotel – with the dog. I caught a cold during the third week and two weeks later I’m almost done with the cough. We’ve been back in the house a little more than a week and just yesterday got all the furniture back in place. Now, we start on the boxes.
All this to say, my plans to work on my goals and various related tasks did not survive the mess of this past month. But Monday on April 1st, I got up and did my 30 minutes of walking first thing. And once the piano is in place, I can start up again there. So, obviously, I won’t make all those perfect yearly goals. But that was never the point anyway, at least not for me. For me the purpose is making progress in those different areas of health and learning and having fun. And I work best with a plan of some sort (J on the Myers-Briggs),
I spent about half my career working at places that didn’t have strategic plans or in one case they had one, but it mostly sat on the metaphorical shelf until we had to turn in a report once a year. But I’ve become a believer in strategic plans for organizations because they do many things for a group, but three in particular: 1. Done well and used well, they are methods of creating an organizational culture of creativity and collaboration across all the organizational lines; 2. They provide a framework within which to make decisions; and, 3. They remind us what we need to return to when the entire semester seems to gang aft agley. Yes, emergencies must be handled, but when they are over, well-maid and well-used plans help leaders bring the important things back into focus and organizational members remember they have been making progress, even if not as fast as they originally thought they would.
Understanding what takes priority in the moment and then being able to keep track of what’s important in the long term so that work keeps going as well are essential leadership skills. These are skills that are often challenging to implement because what’s important varies over time and certainly from organization to organization. One of the best things senior leaders can do to mentor members of the organization is to share their thinking about what is important and to share what is important within their organization. When everyone knows what is important, when they understand how to juggle the changing realities, then everyone is in a better position to know what to do when everything “gangs agley”.
How are you helping people understand what’s most important and how to manage time and chaos? How are you using plans to help you determine where to best spend your time as all spins around you? Are you and your organization managing to return to those ideals when it all gangs aft agley?
Take care,
Gage