Do you know what makes the difference between a good plan and an effective plan? Is it the time you took to work through each and every goal? Nope. Is it the collaborations that went into each specific objective? No. Is it that you hired Arndt Municipal Support, Inc. to facilitate your planning session, while that is close, the answer is still no. The ingredient that transforms a good plan into an effective plan is implementation.
Here is another bit of wisdom: Implementation begins with “I”. That is correct. You have a part to play when it comes to transforming your organization’s plan into a successful plan. The plan may be a master plan, strategic plan, or comprehensive plan, but without implementation, the plan will end up like so many of our well-intentioned plans. It will end up in the trash can.
I know, that sounds so tragic and awfully negative, doesn’t it? Don’t get me wrong, that is not the intent of the planning process. Most of us do not enter into the planning process hoping to generate a plan to end up experiencing this fate. Typically the plan is generated through several hours of collaborations in a very thoughtful and intentional manner. The plan is presented and energy is high. But without your energy and purposeful effort to implement the plan, your plan will end up laying on your desk. A few weeks later, the plan will be moved to the top of your filing cabinet. Sometime later, you will move the plan to a spot inside the filing cabinet. A year or so later you will move the plan to the trash can. Unfortunately, that is the typical life cycle of a good plan.
The life cycle of a great plan requires the assignment of champions to each goal and for each champion to purposefully implement the goals and objectives identified in the plan. I mentioned before that implementation begins with “I”. This means that you may be the champion or the one holding the champion accountable for the achievement of the goal, but either way in order for the plan to be successful, the goals and the objectives in the plan require implementation. Or simply put, in order for a plan to work you have to work the plan.
I am convinced that more organizations will discover the amazing value of a well-thought-out plan. A plan that included collaborations from various viewpoints. Once organizations realize the simple difference between a good plan and a great plan. Organizations have to work the plan! It requires implementation. It requires you.
