“Planning, getting it right the first time”

"What are you going to do?"

"Why are you going to do it?"

"What will it cost?"

"When will it be done?"

These four questions are nearly a universal template for guiding the development of an information plan.  The first specific reference I saw which helped focus these questions was from a now-aging Harvard Business Review article, MEETINGS THAT WORK:  PLANS BOSSES CAN APPROVE, by Paul Lovett in the June-July 1988 issue.

Lovett focused on the many planning pitfalls that kept planning meetings from being successful.  Far more than just being a guide to more successful meetings, these questions are a reliable guide for the whole planning process.

My first collision with information planning occurred nearly 20 years ago when I was a practicing CIO.  Collision was an appropriate description.  We all managed to walk away from the event, but several of the participants suffered injuries, especially to their pride.   Only a bit later, a major career move resulted from another planning collision, one in which I was not involved.  This collision caused major injury, and I replaced the injured party.   The mistake leading up the planning collision involved not figuring out the “why” answer in terms that meant something to the V-Ps of Manufacturing and Engineering. 

Since 1985 I have led seminars for the American Management Association on the subject and provided consulting assistance to organizations developing strategic plans and strategic information plans.  Done well, information planning is a major contribution to an enterprise’s success.  Every year the contribution becomes greater as the information content of products and services becomes more and more the dominant value added.

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[by John Blair from an article published in the January 1999 issue of  “IT Performance Improvement” by Auerbach]