Planning is everything, but plans are nothing
“Planning is everything, but plans are nothing,” Aleksandar Rašin told us in his typical laconic manner as we approached the summit of Damavand, a 5600m volcano in Iran. The oxygen level at that altitude made everything difficult, including wrapping my mind around that statement. It sounded like an oxymoron at first. Anyway, he should know, I thought. He had successfully climbed a couple of 8000+ meter giants and led hundreds of people to high-altitude peaks worldwide. An impossible track record for someone who does not understand a thing or two about plans and planning.
Later that day, when we returned to our base camp and began recovering, my mind started unpacking his climbing-related remark and comparing it with everything I had thought about planning in business and other aspects of life.
What is planning in its essence, when you strip it down to its bare bones? It is a process of thinking of a way that will lead you to a goal. It involves analyzing the challenges and opportunities ahead and determining the necessary resources to maximize the likelihood of success. It is based on our current understanding of what might happen in the future.
The greater the goal, the more effort is required to create a plan. When we invest so much effort into it, we naturally perceive it as important. Additionally, a plan gives us a sense of control in a chaotic environment. It is something we can rely on, or so we assume, and all that’s left is to follow what’s written. However, that’s a recipe for disaster. It’s how people die in the mountains. But why?
There are a couple of reasons. First of all, a plan is a static artifact created in the past when we didn’t know everything we know now. Things have changed since then, and some of the information we had has proven to be inaccurate. Secondly, some people, when presented with a plan, tend to pay less attention to the reality around them and simply follow what’s written. If you’ve ever found yourself trusting Google Maps navigation more than the road and traffic signs around you, you know what I’m talking about.
If the plan is not to be blindly trusted, what did Raša, our guide, mean when he said, “planning is everything”? Well, planning as a process assumes that our senses are open and our brains are engaged. It shouldn’t end once the initial plan is created. A constantly present, active, and creative mind is the greatest tool we have. It is the mind that understands the goal behind the plan, perceives new opportunities and threats as they arise, and acts accordingly.
Achieving anything essentially relies on the interplay of continuous planning (perceiving, thinking) and execution (doing). Both planning and execution are living processes, akin to the ever-changing reality we inhabit. Plans, when viewed as rigid snapshots of how things should be, become lifeless. They can even prove deadly if we adhere to them and attempt actions that are not supported by the current circumstances. In the mountains, this becomes quite literal and apparent.
