When you think of planning, what springs to mind? In your organization, is planning a positive experience or a negative one?
Many of us, including this writer, have suffered many tortuous planning exercises that never gained steam once they were finalized. Future planning events continue with similar results.
Perhaps we need a reminder of what planning is and its primary aim. I’ll keep this short by referencing a page from Peter Senge’s masterful business playbook, The Fifth Discipline.
The Essense of Planning
Senge calls planning a form of institutional learning. It’s through this continuous learning that the organization adapts and grows. Reading between the lines, planning is far more beneficial than the plan itself. Additionally …
… the process whereby management teams change their shared mental models of the company, their markets, and their competitors. For this reason we think of planning as learning and of corporate planning as institutional learning.
Peter Senge, The Fifth Discipline
Based on the comments of Senge, is planning a learning and growth experience in your organization? If not, why? If so, how can you help to change this thinking about planning?
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