Being an effective planner …

Boxer Mike Tyson was booked to fight Evander Holyfield in July of 1997. In an interview for the upcoming brawl, a reporter asked Tyson if he was worried about Holyfield and his fight plan.

Tyson responded, “Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth.”

What Tyson said is similar to the old saying “no plan survives first contact with the enemy.” But does this mean there is no need to plan? Absolutely not.

“Good planning and hard work lead to prosperity, but hasty shortcuts lead to poverty,” Proverbs 21:5.

Even Jesus ascribed some value to planning …

“For which one of you, when he wants to build a tower, does not first sit down and calculate the cost to see if he has enough to complete it? Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who observe it begin to ridicule him, saying, ‘This man began to build and was not able to finish,'” Luke 14:28-30 (NASB).

Planning is practical to achieving, and there’s different kinds of planning that can be employed. Accipio, a global agency for next-generation digital learning, accredited leadership development, and performance consultancy, teaches clients the following types of planning:

Strategic Planning – This type of planning aims to ensure everyone involved in the endeavor is working toward a common goal and their energy, focus, and resources are all aligned towards this. Agreements are made about the direction to move in and how every contributor can ensure this happens. A strategic plan will define the overall goal and how to get there, and also often lays out how the success of the strategy will finally be measured.

Action Planning – Unlike strategic planning, this type of planning is focused on day-to-day activities. Individual, team, or project activities are organized and set out in a timetable. This helps to focus attention on the task at hand, rather than focusing on the bigger picture. This increases levels of motivation and efficiency, as well as providing a useful tool for monitoring and evaluation after the task has been completed. Specific details are planned for to the level of who will be where, when, and the exact amount of resources they will require.

Tactical Planning – This type of planning builds on the strategic plan by breaking the tasks down into short-term actions and plans. The extra level of detail in a tactical plan increases efficiency and helps individuals and teams know exactly what is required of them.

Operational Planning – This type of planning aligns different functions with the overall goals and objectives. This includes planning levels of resources, processes, where people are needed, budgets, etc. This is important for ensuring every area of a strategy is covered and no two persons or departments are working on the same project. Simplicity and clarity are key as the plan must be easily understood by everyone involved.

Assumption-based Planning – All plans make assumptions about the future and identifying these assumptions are crucial to any plan. In the scenario of any assumption not occurring there must be plans for how to react to this. Once these assumptions have been identified it is then important to identify which will have the biggest impact if they were to fail. “Signposts” can then be set up to monitor any potential issues and actions can be taken to manage the assumptions made. Finally, hedging actions can be taken to prepare for the instance where assumptions fail.

Contingency Planning – This type of planning involves preparing for the worst case scenario to occur. All strategies have the potential to fail when they are affected by internal or external factors. These events are often unavoidable, and hence instead of attempting to block them, plans need to be made for the event of them occurring. Firstly, a risk assessment should take place, highlighting the greatest potential risk. Once risks have been highlighted, plans can be made for if they occur, laying out the actions required, the triggers to the events, timeframes for action, and budgeting.

These are some of the ways we can go about planning what we would like to achieve, but there’s yet something unmentioned that should be the cornerstone of any and all planning that a Christian does; that is, before you plan, pray!

Pastor Warren Wiersbe, writing in “Wycliffe Handbook of Preaching and Preachers,” noted the need to start with God before making any plans …

Hudson Taylor had definite convictions about how God’s work should be done. We can make our best plans and try to carry them out in our own strength. Or we can make careful plans and ask God to bless them.

“Yet another way of working is to begin with God; to ask His plans, and to offer ourselves to Him to carry out His purposes.”

James warns us about placing our confidence in our own planning …

“Look here, you who say, ‘Today or tomorrow we are going to a certain town and will stay there a year. We will do business there and make a profit.’ How do you know what your life will be like tomorrow? Your life is like the morning fog — it’s here a little while, then it’s gone. What you ought to say is, ‘If the Lord wants us to, we will live and do this or that.’ Otherwise you are boasting about your own pretentious plans, and all such boasting is evil,” James 4:13-16.

The problem with starting any process of planning from our own thinking is the source … ourselves!

“There is a way which seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death,” Proverbs 14:12 (NASB).

The Bible teaches us that God should be our source for making any plans …

“We can make our own plans, but the Lord gives the right answer,” Proverbs 16:1.

“Commit your actions to the Lord, and your plans will succeed,” Proverbs 16:3.

“We can make our plans, but the Lord determines our steps,” Proverbs 16:9.

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take,” Proverbs 3:5-6.

“You can make many plans, but the Lord’s purpose will prevail,” Proverbs 19:21.

The Bible has much to say about our planning, and making God our starting point for them. If we belong to God (all Christians are adopted into His family), and God is sovereign over all and is omnipotent (all-knowing), why, then, would we ever want to plan anything without first talking to Him?

“For just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so my ways are higher than your ways and my thoughts higher than your thoughts,” Isaiah 55:9.

Do you plan and then act?

Or do you plan and then ask God to bless your plans?

Or do you start with prayer, having a conversation with God about your idea(s) and seeking His will and direction before planning anything?

To be the most effective planner possible, pray before you plan!

Scotty