Planning

Before You Fly

It is best practice to know what type of aircraft you are flying before taking off. How do you get out of a flying aircraft to determine its type once in flight?

The same is true with your organization. Best to be able to describe its Magnetic North (purpose, vision, mission, and values) before you decide to launch into strategic planning, expansion, capital campaign, or commitments for the future. If we do not know who we are, how are we going to wayfind in a way that accentuates our strengths?

First Glance

Upon first sighting an iconic peak, do we start climbing? Do we presumptively assume we have the right equipment, sufficient fuel, a safe weather window, and critical beta to launch our summit attempt?

Most expeditions prepare and conduct research before launching (see the Hudson’s Bay Company philosophy). How might we balance our enthusiasms with a culture of curiosity? Some opportunities need to be seized in the moment, such as catching a foul ball in the stands at a baseball game. Most epic opportunities allow for a moment of reflection and consideration.

How might we build tools to navigate between immediate actions unhindered by the thought process and preparing to act?

Choice

What is the right number of choices to feel a sense of autonomy but avoid overwhelm? If one visits an Apple Store, there are typically three or fewer models available in any given product line. The intention is that one of these models will fit the needs of the majority of customers, and there is always the opportunity to customize online.

When you ask your stakeholders for advice, do you offer two or three thoughtful choices? Or do you overpower them with a carnival-prize-tent level of options?

Decomposing Light and Decomposing Planning
Lesson in decomposing light
byu/Blues_Fish innextfuckinglevel

What might we learn from the decomposing light demonstration? Our perspectives change when we eliminate certain inputs from our environment. Nonprofit organizations that hold a planning retreat but decide not to include all staff members or to refrain from inviting the advisory council are effectively narrowing the range of ideas that will be illuminated. We do not have to invite everyone to every session, but when we are deliberately seeking a generative mindset, it might be valuable to pair people who do not meet in typical sessions.

How might our willingness to seek out weak ties actually strengthen the process?

Screenshot

Vanishing Point

We can map out our route until we cannot. There is a moment at which our planned itinerary contains a gap or uncertainty. It may appear that we are traveling a continuous path, but serendipity and detours will appear, even in the most detailed schedule of events. How might we expect the unexpected and embrace the elements of our plan that fall into place?

Who Is It For?

Two Starbucks, located across the street from each other, appear like poor business planning; until we recognize that the stores exist in an urban design that prioritizes automobiles. If ease of pedestrian travel were a preference, perhaps one store would be sufficient.

How might we understand ‘who it is for’ before we begin our design and implementation phase? Starbucks does not exist to serve vehicles, but it does serve people. That said, it inhabits an environment that has amplified the needs of motorized travel; therefore, its design model accommodates those arriving in vehicles.