#Middlebury #Preparation #Planning
Winning Ways
By PAT IANNUZZI
Planning, planning, planning. How many times have we heard about the importance of planning, especially daily planning? I would venture most of us have had, in some manner or other, the value of planning drummed into our heads many times during our lives.
Nonetheless, I suspect that most of us are not the most disciplined planners. To those of you who believe you are, I ask you, “What impact has your daily planning had on your personal success?” If your answer is not an enthusiastically positive one, I suggest it may be because of the less than effective focus of your planning efforts.
One of the key differences between ordinary people and extraordinary people is that the latter tend to be more productive. This usually is because they focus their time and effort on results rather than simply on activities. Many are inclined to focus primarily on the what, when and where of planning, simply associating it with blocking out a portion of time on a calendar without paying much attention to the most important element – the HOW.
Effective planning needs to include the process of thinking about how we intend to implement behaviors to achieve a desired outcome. In other words, planning should be more about preparation than scheduling and organizing.
Personal success is all about behavior, and it follows, therefore, that our planning should center extensively on how we intend to prepare for such successful behavior. The scheduling part is easy: time, place, etc. The more important part of planning, however, is preparing what we intend to say and how we intend to say it. I think that most of the time we don’t focus enough attention on this important aspect of our personal interactions.
Let’s say, you have scheduled a conversation with an associate to try to change his or her thinking about a particular matter that is very important to you. How do you plan to articulate your argument to make it persuasive to the other person? How do you anticipate he or she is likely to respond? What do you think will be the reason(s) for their response?
It can be helpful to pre-play a prospective interaction in our minds. If, for example, he says “_______,” I will answer with “_______.” On the other hand, if he challenges me with “________,” I will respond with “______.” Also, try to anticipate the emotional context of an interaction and prepare for it as well. Never just “wing it” or” go with the flow.” It can be surprising how frequently a situation unfolds almost exactly as we have prepared.
Abraham Lincoln is reported to have said:
“Give me six hours to chop down a tree, and I will
spend the first four hours sharpening the axe.”
His obvious point is that with a sharp axe, chopping down a tree would be a fairly simple and undemanding task. But with a dull axe, it would likely be a very difficult and draining chore.
In a larger sense however, what the quote infers is that one would be wise to spend twice as much time preparing for a task than in actually performing it. Being prepared essentially means being ready to face and overcome challenges we expect to encounter. Success rarely happens by accident; in order to achieve whatever we desire, hope and dream about, we need to prepare ourselves for success.
Pat Iannuzzi of Symbiont Performance Group, Inc. is a performance consultant, trainer and coach focusing on selling, presentation and interpersonal skills. He lives in Litchfield and can be reached at 860-283-9963 or piannuzzi@symbiontnet.com.
