David

Pollay

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November 12, 2007

Keep Your Plan in Your Hands Not in Your Drawer

I learned many years ago how hard it is to stick to a plan. 

I had just started my new job at MasterCard in New York City. I was attending my first strategic planning meeting. All the top leaders of the division were there. Bill was one of them (name changed for this story).

In the middle of the morning session Bill yelled out, “Why are we wasting so much time on this plan? You know where we’re going to put it after the conference?”

Not being afraid to speak his mind, Bill answered his own question. “It’s going to go in the drawer with all the rest of our annual plans!” I admit that was a better answer than the one I had feared. 

There are two conclusions you might draw from this story: 1) The plan wasn’t good; or 2) No one really looks at plans. 

In our case the plan was good. All our top leaders participated in the planning meeting. Every department was represented. We had customer feedback, consulting input and an extensive review of our opportunities and threats in the marketplace. The plan was good.

But Bill was right. Many people did not look at the plan again, the plan went into the drawer. 

So why didn’t more people look at the plan again? The answer is simple. They forgot about the plan. They left the plan in the drawer, not in their hands. 

So how do you know if your plan will work if you cannot remember it? 

A good plan points you in the right direction. And a good plan does more than that. Anthropologist Lionel Tiger of Rutgers University has written that it affects your “mood or attitude” about the future. If you believe that you have a plan that will work, you are more optimistic. Your attitude is more positive. 

The late University of Kansas positive psychologist Rick Snyder found in his research that hope is directly connected to the belief that you can achieve your goals. Your goals encourage you to do things each day that are important to your future. You create your future by acting today.

Good plans are worth reviewing many times: They guide our actions and behaviors. Take marriage for example. We all know that the divorce rate in this country is about 50 percent. What about second or third marriages? It’s even worse.  The divorce rate is 67 percent for second marriages and 74 percent for third marriages. Yet, probably all of us who walked down the aisle recited the most famous marriage plan ever written – our wedding vows. But most of us have said them only once. Could you imagine if everyone reviewed their vows and remained committed to them every day?

Finally, a plan is not a map, it’s a guide. It’s a guide to our goals based on what we know today. And when our information changes, we should review our plan and adjust it as needed. Most company leaders treat their plans as if they should be bound in leather, or framed in glass. The most successful leaders instead write all over their plan. They scratch out what is out of date and they scribble in what needs to be added. Then they communicate the changes to everyone who needs to know. They build support for the changes, and ask for help in achieving them.

So keep your plan in your hands, not in your drawer. I know Bill would be impressed.

David J. Pollay is a syndicated columnist with North Star Writers Group, creator and host of “The Happiness Answer™” television program, an internationally sought-after speaker and seminar leader, and the author of “Beware of Garbage Trucks!™ - The Law of the Garbage Truck™.” Mr. Pollay is the founder and president of TheMomentumProject.com, a strengths-based training and consulting organization with offices in Delray Beach, Florida and Washington D.C. Mr. Pollay is also the associate executive director of the International Positive Psychology Association (IPPA). Email him at david@themomentumproject.com.

© 2007 David J. Pollay. Distributed by North Star Writers Group. May not be republished without permission.

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