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Oh, I love a good plan! The act of planning sharpens our focus, aligns our efforts, and creates a shared understanding. That said, meticulous planning can easily devolve into overplanning and analysis paralysis, where time spent perfecting a plan comes at the cost of action. I'm all too often guilty of this myself.

This isn't an argument for abandoning forethought entirely. Far from it. Striking a balance is key.

Meticulous planners may pride themselves on careful preparation, but their risk lies in missing opportunities while waiting for perfection. On the other hand, those who charge forward without a plan risk avoidable setbacks.

Success often lies somewhere in between, where deliberate preparation supports decisive action.

I was driven by Richard Muscat Azzopardi's LinkedIn post to reflect on the paradoxical nature of planning. While plans themselves often become obsolete as soon as the ink dries, the process of planning is invaluable.

Covey, Drucker, Allen, and countless others (Richard, you're in good company here!) have all underscored a timeless principle for bridging the gap between planning and execution: clarity on who is responsible for a task, what needs to be done, and by when it needs to be accomplished. Or, as Mark Horstman so elegantly puts it, who does what by when.

This deceptively simple concept eliminates ambiguity, making sure plans move beyond mere intention.



Here's how you can start applying these principles immediately:

• In meetings (whether one-on-one or with large teams), don't just decide that something needs to be done. Specify who will take action, and by when that task will be completed.
• For personal planning, use the same principle. The who is clearly yourself, but break down generic objectives into specific tasks and assign a date to them.
• Revisit plans regularly but keep moving forward. Adjustments are a part of the process, not a failure of the plan.

In essence, don't let planning become an end in itself. Instead, let it be the foundation for meaningful, measurable progress.

Now, if you'll indulge me, I've resisted the temptation to pepper this article with a bunch of adages, aphorisms and platitudes. So I'll just leave you with a list here.

If they help you keep in mind the balance between planning and execution, even if it costs me a bit of your respect, I'll consider it a win.

• No plan survives first contact.
• Plans are nothing; planning is everything.
• By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail.
• The best-laid plans often go awry.
• A goal without a plan is just a wish.
• The difference between a dream and a goal is a plan.

Props to you if you can readily identify whom they're attributed to or are paraphrasing. If you can't, that's even better...go look them up, then practise the smug look you'll be wearing at your next trivia quiz.

You're welcome!

Stephen

Everyone loves a success story!

The internet is rife with inspirational stories of how people have beaten the odds and triumphed in their pursuits and endeavours. More often than not, such stories are presented to us in a manner which encourages us to see what these people did right in order for us to learn from their successes and hopefully replicate their positive results. The same holds true for articles which provide "tips and tricks" or advice from prominent individuals regarded as experts in their field. We read these stories to draw inspiration, to increase our knowledge of the field, or perhaps simply as a morale booster to see us through tough times...a bookish pep-talk of sorts. While this could be beneficial, if we focus solely on these success stories, we run the risk of always looking at a one-sided picture, a half-truth.

The stark reality is that many, many stories are in fact, to some degree, failures. However, nobody enjoys reading about how difficult it is to achieve our goals, or how many people have already tried and failed at doing exactly the same thing we are trying to do. Besides being a hit to our morale, we tend to think that since they must have done something wrong, they aren't the ones to learn from. So we look towards the celebrity figures as the sole source of wisdom.

What we fail to realise is that failures probably offer us much more valuable information than the successes. By seeing where things went wrong, we learn how to avoid doing the same mistakes. I'm not saying that we should focus on the negative rather than the positive. That would still be the same issue, albeit in reverse. One must have a healthy dose of both and look at all the available information.

Naturally the issue is much more complex than that, but the basic concept is that we must not blindly separate the winners from the losers or even fail to recognise that there are, in fact, losers in every scenario.

If you're not one to be deterred by lengthy articles, I strongly suggest you read David McRaney's article on Survivorship Bias. It's a very interesting read and extremely well written.

So if you're trying to start a profitable business and are in the process of understanding what works and what doesn't, make sure you don't fall victim to survivorship bias.

Stephen

At the risk of making the article title sound like clickbait, I can collectively refer to these skills through a singular, but broad, term: communication skills.

I don't mean marketing, although that does require strong communication skills. I mean being able to figuratively and literally stand in front of people, whatever their relationship is to you, and say what you need to say articulately, clearly and in a way that everyone can understand. You need to be convincing, even when you might be wrong or are doubting yourself, and especially if you're in a leadership role.


So:

• Speaking or writing...
• Addressing team members, partners, employees, potential investors or customers...
• Pitching, teaching, motivating, documenting or asking questions...

I'd rank this high in any sector, but perhaps in games I would place it at the very top.

Why?

• We're not just a creative industry, where clarity and unambiguity is always necessary, but a creative-technical mix, which makes it exponentially more important
• Remote teams are very common
• Very noisy industry, so it's the clear voice that stands out
• Mix of experienced and inexperienced individuals, across the board
• Global. Multi-cultural.
• Not just hit-driven but also brand- and personality-driven

Stephen