Tweak It, Don’t Ditch It
Sitting here contemplating the strategy of planning. So many of us are planners, at least in some area of our lives. Plans are good, overall. Plans provide direction, plans tell you what to do when you feel too tired to figure it out. That being said, even the best laid plans can prove unreliable. Or at least, not as reliable or infallible as originally thought.
I’ve had the privilege of dealing with plan-related glitches recently. I don’t think I’m unique in this regard — everyone experiences glitches — but I’ve chosen to observe my responses to such glitches. And, I’ve noted the responses of others — whether clients, colleagues, friends, family members — when they experience glitches. So often, there can be a tendency to just ditch the plan altogether. Sometimes, that actually serves; and sometimes, it really doesn’t.
What I’m noticing is that sometimes — often times — the plan doesn’t need to be ditched, it just needs to be tweaked. Modified. There’s just one little click to make, one little detail to alter, one little timeline to adjust — in order to make an otherwise ineffective plan, effective. The plan isn’t a complete waste — it just needs to be tweaked.
My thought is that, in this sense, plans can be likened to a sweater that gets caught on something sharp and ends up with a pulled thread as a result. You could say that the sweater is now unwearable and ditch it. That, however, really would be a waste. Why? Because it doesn’t take a lot of effort to flip the sweater inside out and pull the thread back. Do this, and all of a sudden the “unwearable” sweater is wearable again. Same thing with plans; one little tweak and all of a sudden what was unworkable, is now workable.
Bottom-line: before you ditch the plan altogether, you’ve got to ask yourself — is this tweakable? If it is, tweak away and watch your plan gain traction and achieve what you intended all along. Only ditch if it can’t be tweaked. Methinks that this is a good motto when it comes to achieving success.