THOUGHTFUL, THOROUGH AND FLEXIBLE
THAT'S GOOD PLANNING
THAT'S GOOD PLANNING
Butch Cassidy, the outlaw bank
robber from the old American West, and General Dwight Eisenhower, the Supreme
Commander of Allied Forces in World War II – what could these two very
different people have in common? Simple, they were both meticulous planners.
Cassidy and his gang robbed
banks, lots of banks for years and years and always managed to get away clean.
How did this do that? Great planning.
A few days in advance of the
day planned for the robbery, Cassidy staged horses along his getaway route so his
mounts would always be fresh. Many times of course law men and impromptu posies
of armed men chased after Cassidy and the gang. But after a few miles of
chasing at full gallop, their horses were exhausted and they had to stop and
rest or turn back because the trail had gone cold.
It was the advance thinking and
masterful pre-word that made it possible for Cassidy and the gang, on their
fresh mounts, to elude capture time and time again. That took meticulous
planning. By the way, Cassidy never shot anyone during the commission of his
crimes either, meticulous planning again.
Most people who robbed banks in
the old west did so after a night of heavy drinking. It was a spur of the
moment thing with no planning at all. Of course, being drunk while robbing a
bank is not a recipe for success. Those unthinking bank robbers gave no thought
to their getaway so most were quickly caught.
General Eisenhower once said, “Victory
long term is about planning, constant planning and forever shifting planning.” And
this, “In preparing for battle I have always found that plans are useless, but
planning is indispensable.”
Hey, that’s right. How many times in the operation of
your business have you had a well thought out plan only to need to quickly abandon
it because of changes you could not have foreseen. This happens right? Sure.
So like Butch Cassidy and General Eisenhower, plan, plan,
plan, set goals, contrive strategy and implement it at all costs and with all
your might. Just be aware that sometimes you will need to adjust and revise and
start over in the midst of the action.
What if Cassidy’s carefully staged horses had gotten loose
and run off? What would Butch and the boys have done then? We know all kinds of
things go wrong in battle, and that solders always have a contingencies and plan
B.
What’s the lesson? Simple: We need to be thoughtful, thorough
and flexible in all our planning activities as we drive our enterprise and our
lives toward the future. Life and business success requires that we do.
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