We all make plans, implicitly or explicitly. That's what helps us navigate through the days and the weeks.
Planning has a prerequisite though.
And that is, over the timeframe in which we plan, there are some things that ought to remain fairly constant - like the market demand potential for our product. And at the same time, there are some things that can be influenced by the actions that we take.
When this holds true, we analyse the things that remain fairly constant (the environment), and we come up with what actions we can take to influence outcomes, which essentially constitutes our plan.
The longer the timeframe over which things remain fairly constant, the longer the duration for which we can plan. Which is why some companies (and governments) can make 3-year and 5-year plans while others cannot do anything beyond a 6-month plan.
With the uncertainty over how long lockdowns are going to continue, what the world will look like should we start opening things up again, the planning horizon for a lot of people and a lot of companies has come down to weeks or even days, where they have started taking the approach of one day at a time.
However, there are also things that continue to remain constant over longer horizons - our need to keep learning, our need to connect with others like us. And these, we can continue to have longer lasting plans for.
Planning has a prerequisite though.
And that is, over the timeframe in which we plan, there are some things that ought to remain fairly constant - like the market demand potential for our product. And at the same time, there are some things that can be influenced by the actions that we take.
When this holds true, we analyse the things that remain fairly constant (the environment), and we come up with what actions we can take to influence outcomes, which essentially constitutes our plan.
The longer the timeframe over which things remain fairly constant, the longer the duration for which we can plan. Which is why some companies (and governments) can make 3-year and 5-year plans while others cannot do anything beyond a 6-month plan.
With the uncertainty over how long lockdowns are going to continue, what the world will look like should we start opening things up again, the planning horizon for a lot of people and a lot of companies has come down to weeks or even days, where they have started taking the approach of one day at a time.
However, there are also things that continue to remain constant over longer horizons - our need to keep learning, our need to connect with others like us. And these, we can continue to have longer lasting plans for.
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