Planning is an exercise often done in the dark with incomplete information. Today, in the Bay Area, all planning that was done was literally done in the dark. The sun never came out on September 9th, 2020. A socially distant summer has passed and it appears daylight is missing too as wildfires rage around us. This year.. This year.

Speaking of lighting a fire, 2021 planning is due to begin in earnest with the new year and new goals right around the corner. Who’s ready?

Reed Hastings, Netflix Founder & CEO, released a book this week about the company’s culture of reinvention aptly named No Rules Rules: Netflix and the Culture of Reinvention. We don’t read that fast, but Netflix has long promoted the cultural value of Context, not Control accompanied by the following quote within their famous culture deck and it is greatly applicable to planning:

If you want to build a ship, don’t drum up the people to gather wood, divide the work, and give orders. Instead, teach them to yearn for the vast and endless sea.

Antoine De Saint-Exupery, Author of The Little Prince

What does that all mean? If you’re looking for great outcomes, set the appropriate context and rally your team around the cause. Embark upon aggressive goal setting and show them the importance of their work within the context of a really big, audacious vision.

When it comes to specific aspects of planning there is often a focus on the wood, the work, and how all that little stuff gets done. Do that, definitely. Sweat the small stuff. Attention to detail matters. Any vision of worth must be achieved via a fundamentally sound process of execution.

But, if the destination isn’t worth cutting that wood and hammering those nails does it even matter? Don’t gloss over the why before getting to the how.

Next, do the hard work of charting the course. What are the bandwidth assumptions across the team? How many new hires are needed and when? How will projects be scoped and timelines assigned? What are the key risks that need to be managed? What are opportunities to be uncovered? All that juicy stuff!

As you embark upon your 2021 planning adventure, make sure you bring a (battery powered) lantern to light the way. Maybe go outside for a long walk to think it over. When the sun comes back out.