In my
first planning process blog I told you this planning process is different because it
addresses all three key aspects of planning: Results, the Process that give rise to the
Results, and the Source of what (who, actually) does the Process and
produces the Results. That being… You.
In that first blog I told you a little about the blind spot. What I didn’t tell you directly were two things. One, we are all quite self-deceiving (yes, that includes you), and that it is our own self-deception that keeps the blind spot blind.
Second, because this self-deception affects all aspects of our lives—our ability to plan included—self-deception will affect you in the planning process we are embarking on here. Let's look at this in more detail, as the second admonition of the Fallacy of the Perfect Plan. It is the correlation of self-deception to the three aspects of planning (see inserted graphic).
The second admonition is you will likely encounter a significant struggle with one particular area of the three areas of planning. You may already know which area—Define Results (Results), Create Action Plans (Process), or Transform Counterproductive Behavior (Source). Before you give up and say this is too hard or too much, or I’m taking to long to get to it, or that it does not apply to you, just bear with me a moment because it is your impatience, anxiety and/or your rush in the past that has tripped you up in planning. Not so? So take a deep breath if you need to, settle down, find center and listen up.
Could it be the reason your past planning was not as successful or rewarding as you’d like is because your self-deception affected how you conducted your self during the planning process (or later, in the execution of it)? Could this be why your planning isn’t working for you like it should, even though you are a real intelligent guy or gal? And could this be why your most important goals or aspirations elude you, or lack meaning when you do achieve them? Get the picture?
One of the three planning aspects will probably be easy for you, one will be “ok” and the other may be hard to penetrate or you may bounce off of it (or vice versa) entirely. You will not get out of this process the full impact unless you give your all to all three aspects. And that doesn’t mean all will equally perfect. You only need to be able to look in the mirror and be able to truly say, I gave ALL three aspects of planning my all, and I did not waver.
So, do
you see some potential trouble brewing? In fact, it is already brewed. It followed you here. It is in you. And it
affects your planning. When trouble is brewing or brewed, you’ve got three
options. First, head in sand. Second, return to the corner and assume the fetal
position with pad of thumb in roof of mouth. Third, get yourself a strategy. That's what is coming up in the third and final post on The Fallacy of Planning, our gateway into the planning itself...
