Reading How Plans Work, Lewis D. Hopkins
This week I found the reading to show a plan as being something that can be followed through with great structure and precision. I think this week has really reminded me of the responsibility of planners. The question what is a good plan? After going through all the criteria of agenda, policies, vision, design and strategy, is that enough to be a plan?
I think after reading this chapter it becomes clear that although there needs to be a basic framework it is not enough to ‘tick the boxes’. The plan may look grand on paper but how does it actually translate in the real world? Is it Cost? Was the outcome achieved ethically? When talking about ethical planning this presents a broad range of issues in relation to governments, clients, public/community interests, employers, professional integrity, intra-generational and intergenerational. The plan must be lawful and fit in to daily decision making and strategic planning.
From my understanding and observation, plans have to go through multiple legalities and bureaucracy to have one plan which may never be used. Even for the plans are used it is a lengthy process. Is the plan going to be effective by the time it goes through this process and actually becomes policy or will it become dated?
This framework is used to form the plan for developed countries such as the United States and Australia. This system works as it has shown in these countries at a relatively slow rate. Therefore I do not think this would be the best system implemented for developing countries as they need polices that are implemented and practiced in the now, which means cutting out much of the policy time.
I found your post very insightful. One question that came to mind when reading about what constitutes good plans is about safety. Does a good plan rely on itself to work, or should it incorporate a back-up plan, in case it fails?
ReplyDeleteAnd where should the line be drawn between the complexity of a plan that has several paths to ensure safety and the actual costs needed to plan in such a complex manner? Should be pay less for a good plan that we hope will succeed, or should we pay more to reduce the risk of failure?
I look forward to your comments and your next post!
Implementation is the key to most things - I think that all plans should go through a rigorous framework and the structure or process of planning is very important and should be followed in most cases - even in third world countries. I think the issue of ethics in 3rd world is separate from the planning process. Take china for instance they are growing so fast and manage to build a power station every week (don't quote me on the stats but it is an amazing rate of implementation) whereas in Aus - preserving a rare tree can hold up a plan for months - so the focus and imperatives are different. Plans need to have an element of built in flexibility to adapt to different situations but I think the steps in the frameworks should always be covered where possible. In relation to eddy's comment above I think there could be a number of different scenario's for a plan which allows flexibility. and absolutely complexity and cost and rate of return will be vital to ensuring implementation
ReplyDeleteI think when considering planning you need to differentiate between the different planning horizons which relate to the type of planning being done - the length of pland shorten as the planning process evolves from strategic to intermediate to operational planning. The nature of the organization doing the planning also affects how plans are implemented. For example your comments about the current planning process being too slow probably relates more to Government planning rather than to company planning. Organisations such as Governments or bureaucracies which have a command control method of management can be inflexible and this leads to lengthy planning processes. Whereas companies/corporations which operate for profit use a contingency model of planning.Planning and control is usually more participative and there is built in flexibility to take advantage of unexpected opportunities and cope with the need for change. in the 21st century it is essential to balance planned action and spontaneity - something which governments do not do well but successful corporations do.
ReplyDeleteThis is very insightful. I have little to no knowledge of planning and the steps involved in creating a plan that can be quickly canceled due to bureaucratic constraints. Thus why the meticulous planning of legal and safety issues is crucial. Within developed nations perhaps these steps are taken more seriously than the plan itself and can block the steps to better policies. Obviously safety is extremely important but I wonder, do government institutions use their own agendas to cancel or praise policies that fit in with their overall image? I understand this occurs within developed nations as well as developing nations but the balance between the need for an overall good economy and the needs of the individuals in terms of infrastructure are more often than not, compromised. I agree with your article, well written and concise!
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