When You Fail To Plan..... You Are Planning
To Fail
Whatever failures I have known, whatever errors I have committed, whatever follies I have witnessed in private and public life have been the consequences of action without thought.
— Bernard Baruch
We have chuckled, each one of us, on seeing this sign on a friend's desk or on an office wall: "Plan Ahead." This choice nugget invariably evokes our sympathy for the poor draftsman who, not unlike ourselves, became so engrossed in the workmanship of the moment that he or she neglected to anticipate the ending of the card. Failure to "plan ahead," you might say, "loused up" the whole job!
How many of our lives are being "loused up" the same way? How many of our jobs?
Consider for a moment a particular office manager who
Page 114
saw this sign for the first time on the desk of her assistant. There's a fellow, mused the manager, who can learn a lot from that sign. Suddenly her mind flashed back to the Saturday on which she had hurried off from home to run a few quick errands. Stopping at a friend's office, she dropped off a film she had borrowed for an office meeting. She then crossed the street to the post office. When the three people in line ahead of her were through, she handed over the package to be sent parcel post and asked, in addition, for a roll of first-class stamps. As she reached for her wallet, she remembered — she had intended to stop at the food store in order to cash a check, since she was almost out of money. Sure enough, the two dollars-plus in her pocket wouldn't come close to paying the bill. "Keep the stamps, if you will, please. I find I'm short of cash. I'll drop back later," she offered apologetically.
She pushed her foot down a bit impatiently on the accelerator on the way to the food store five miles away. We really don't need food, just the cash — and now I'll have to come all the way back here just to get in line again for stamps, she thought with some disgust. Ten seconds of time to jot down. "1. Cash check at food store; 2. Drop off film; 3. Package and stamps at P.O." would have saved several extra miles, wasted gas, and at least fifteen minutes of time! What a bargain for ten seconds of time! Plan ahead? Oh, yes, the assistant office manager really could have profited from this slogan!
The office manager, upon returning to her desk, saw a copy of "A Management Course for Air Force Supervisors"1 on top of one of the piles of papers on the desk. At the last meeting of a service club the speaker had read an interesting description of the "busy executive" which the office manager had intended to read:
Page 115
YOU CAN'T WASTE A SECOND
Mr. Carl was a hard-working supervisor. He had enough personnel in his organization to accomplish the workload. In spite of this, his work was rarely done on time. One day Carl excused himself from the chief's staff meeting, stating that he just had to get back to the job. The chief decided to spend the next morning with him.
Next morning when the chief arrived, Carl was talking on the phone, and at the same time signing some forms. He interrupted the phone conversation to greet the chief and, still holding the phone, called to the secretary, "Mary, these forms are signed."
Carl, talking again on the same phone call, thrust the signed forms toward Mary as she entered. His movement pushed a disorderly pile of papers off the corner of his desk. The papers were scattered on the floor by a breeze from an open window and Mary started picking them up. Carl shouted, "I'll think about it and call you back, Oliver." Then he said to Mary, "Don't pick them up; you'll just mix them up worse." He scooped up a paper that was on his desk and handed it to the chief. "There's Don Pitt's idea of how to save about half the time we spend on processing. Wish we had time to try it out. What do you think of it?"
Mary came again to Carl's desk. "Bill Evans wants to know if he can start on that priority job right now," said Mary. "Tell him to wait," said Carl. "I haven't time to finish training him, and I just can't trust him to start a job that important without checking it myself."
While Carl was picking up and sorting the papers, Mary brought in some forms. "Mr. Carl, you just signed those on the line for the major's signature, so I typed them over."
"Too much to do," muttered Carl, glancing at the chief.
Page 116
"If you sign them now I'll take them to the major right away," said Mary, reaching towards the desk.
"I'll take them," said Carl. "The major might want to ask me about them." Carl explained to the chief: "Don and Bob can't do a thing till I run these through. I'll be right back." He dashed out. In a minute he stuck his head in the door. "I forgot to tell you, Mary, don't type that report till I read it. We can get the the due date backed up a day. See if the chief wants some coffee. I won't have time for any."
And he dashed away again, but before he went he said to the chief, "No use for Mary to type that report twice. Anybody as busy as I am knows you can't waste a second."
* * *
The office manager tossed the pamphlet back on the stack, thought momentarily of her assistant whose actions it so well described, failed to connect any of this to her own desk or situation, and returned to her own everlasting task of trying to "catch up."
"Planning," according to Allen, is "predetermining a course of action."2 The alternative to planning is to act without forethought. Bernard Baruch attributed to this poor practice whatever failures and errors he had witnessed and experienced in private and public life. Some men, who seemed gifted with the ability to act intuitionally, are apparently able to act successfully without conscious forethought... without planning ahead. These are rare men. For the great majority, as work expands and becomes more complex, planning becomes imperative if we are to visualize what we want to accomplish and how best to achieve it. Instead of leaving the future to chance,
Page 117
planning is essential in order to make happen what we want to happen.
Proper planning simplifies the task of the manager. It makes integrated and co-ordinated effort possible. It increases the effective utilization of available resources, including time. It enhances the opportunity for effective communication within an organization and permits utilization of those closest to the point of action. The importance of planning is underscored by the incorporation of this function into the formal organization structure of virtually all major industries today.
The barriers to planning are numerous. Emphasis on day-to-day operations almost always pushes planning into the background. Putting out today's fires takes priority over planning for tomorrow — ironically thus insuring that there will be more fires tomorrow. The element of uncertainty of the future is a deterrant to planning. Most of us feel more comfortable working within a structured situation with certain and predictable factors. William Oncken, in his film Managing a Managers' Time, describes the unstructured zone of optimum executive action as an "area of ambiguity." Here one concentrates primarily on self-imposed tasks and implements them primarily by delegating responsibility for, and exacting accountability for, the results expected.
Making decisions regarding imponderables is not easy or always pleasant. Yet it must be done if we are to exert significant control over the future rather than permit it to control us. The harnessing of analytical, intellectual, imaginative and intuitive capabilities is hard work, particularly in an area which is largely uncharted with familiar systems, techniques and principles. That it must be done for the most effective utilization of the available resources is undisputed. "The greatest source of long-term failure for
Page 118
organized endeavors," concludes Allen, "undoubtedly is the failure to plan."3
All of us, at one time or another, have given lip-service to planning. We've all seen instances which illustrated that forward planning pays dividends. Yet few of us have actually taken a hard look at the process in order to apply it to our own most critical areas. For Christians concerned with proper stewardship of time, such analysis is imperative.
But many Christians question the scriptural basis of planning. "Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself" (Matthew 6:34) would seem, they say, to command the opposite. Careful review of this passage reveals that the thought intended is that we not "worry" or be "anxious" about the morrow. Our Lord regarded cheerfulness and joy, and the absence of care and anxiety, as the mark of a true Christian who places trust in God.
Further, the admonition in Luke 14:28 — 30 appears directly applicable.
For which of you, intending to build a tower, sitteth not down first, and counteth the cost, whether he have sufficient to finish it? Lest haply, after he hath laid the foundation, and is not able to finish it, all who behold it begin to mock him, saying, This man began to build, and was not able to finish.
"But how does one plan?" you ask. "Where does one start?" Having never thought carefully about the matter, one is puzzled about where to begin.
Basically, a plan is simply a mental picture of a future accomplishment. No one would consider building a home without a blueprint. This is merely a plan of how the house is supposed to look when completed. Had the draftsman simply pencil-sketched the words "Plan Ahead," this
Page 119
would have forewarned him of the urgent need for recalculation before he made the sign.
For the Christian organization, planning becomes a bit more complicated, yet can be kept amazingly simple with a little effort. Consider the following questions as a simplified guideline for future planning for your organization, department, endeavor or church:
1. If the present rate and direction of progress continues, where will we be in six months, a year, two years, and five — with respect to each major facet of our program? (Forecasting)2. Where do we want to be at each of these times? (Setting Objectives)
3. What steps, in what sequence, and what priority of effort, will be required to reach these objectives? (Programming)
4. What are desirable target dates for accomplishing each of the program steps? (Scheduling)
5. What resources (manpower, money, equipment) must be allocated to accomplish these objectives? (Budgeting)
6. Must any standardized methods or techniques be developed and applied to accomplish the objective? (Establishing Procedures)
7. Must any standing decisions applicable to repetitive questions and problems of significance to the organization as a whole be developed and applied? (Developing Policies)
Forward planning, to be effective, must be done in writing. It is not only practical but highly desirable to have department or division heads initiate the process. This takes advantage of their knowledge of the situation and brings them into the planning process in a way that insures
Page 120
likelihood of maximum participation in the carrying out of the final plan. Since they are the ones who will carry great responsibility in execution, it is imperative that they be motivated in every way possible for an enthusiastic response to the plan. The place to begin is with their initiation of the process. They will be much less likely to criticize a plan they played an instrumental role in developing. With the factor of "resistance to change" as dominant as it is in many Christian organizations, this factor of instilling enthusiastic co-operation cannot be overstressed.
This is where a time management tool may prove helpful. Some systems include objectives and project sheets to help with planning ahead, scheduling checkpoints for monitoring progress, and keeping deadlines visible so they will not be forgotten.
One church recently was reported to have set up a "Long-Range Planning Committee" consisting of the chairmen of its four boards (deacon, trustee, education and deaconess).4 The program called for (1) a review of the church — its biblical concept, its task, its outreach; (2) a study of the present program and facilities; and (3) a study of the population trends and characteristics of the community. "We're trying to take a good hard look at ourselves," said the chairman. "This is a program of self-appraisal. We hope it will show us where we need to adjust, to change, to alter our methods." Out of its first study have already come significant indications of trends which will require change in emphasis of ministry. Determined not to simply react to changing circumstances after they are at hand, this church is anticipating change in time to prepare by planning ahead. Its custodian summed up the feeling of many: "We've changed a lot to keep up, but we're going to have to change some more to keep ahead!"
Page 121
The danger of confusing means with ends must be faced directly, for it places the effectiveness of Christian organizations in jeopardy. The universality of this danger was summarized by Albert Einstein: "Perfection of means, and confusion of goals, characterize our age." For a church, this danger can be seen in the providing of "better buildings and equipment, better materials, better methods, and improved leadership for its work without a clear-cut understanding of what it is trying to accomplish." This according to W.L. Howse, "leads only to confusion."5 As one pastor summarized the problem in his church, "We're improving the means for reaching unimproved objectives."6 Professor Charles Tidwell, in a discerning article "What Can Objectives Do For My Church?" listed these benefits: (1) tells what is important to your church; (2) gives positive direction to your efforts (you may be static, moving in all directions, or moving backward); (3) sets standards for selecting means; (4) encourages participation in achieving goals, particularly where all participated in establishing them; and (5) measures results, offers a means of measuring progress.7
Howse presented so practical a method for establishing objectives and goals for a church that the outline, with his permission and that of Church Administration editors, is reproduced as Exhibit A at the end of the chapter. The time required to do an effective job of planning has discouraged many from attempting it. After seeing the benefits to be attained, one is constrained to inquire how any Christian work can afford the time and resources which may otherwise be wasted in unimportant actions. "We're in danger of becoming preoccupied with inconsequentials," said a pastor, as he good-naturedly recounted an episode at the previous meeting of their church board. After spending twenty minutes on final review and
Page 122
approval of remodeling and an addition program in excess of $300,000 the board got down to the matter of responsibility for paper towels, napkins and table coverings. Forty-five minutes later one of the group looked at the clock and observed that the priority of time allotted to these two respective subjects seemed a bit out of line. All agreed and in good humor poked a bit of fun at themselves while returning to more serious matters.
With penetrating insight Professor Tidwell asks, "If your church is making progress now without objectives, how much more progress would it make by having good clear objectives? This is an unknown, a variable. But the probability is that more progress is made on purpose than is made accidentally. Objectives are your purpose."8
Summing up the case for planning, Edison Montgomery says, "Successful planning, i.e., clear definition of goals, determination of methods to move all parts of the organization toward them, careful review of progress, is the keynote of success of a voluntary organization. It is necessary to gain and hold the confidence of whatever public the voluntary organization services."
HOW TO DETERMINE OBJECTIVES AND GOALS
EXHIBIT A
W.L. Howse
How does a church go about determining objectives and goals? Here are the basic steps to follow:
1. Study the nature and purpose of the church. (Study selected portions of the New Testament for assistance.)2. State the overarching objective for the church. (One group chose as its overarching objective: "to
Page 123
maintain a vital relationship to God through Jesus Christ and to bring all into this same relationship.")3. Study the functions of a church. (A "function" of a church has been defined as a basic action which if not taken seriously alters the nature of church. A church's basic functions are to worship, to proclaim, to educate, and to minister.
4. State objectives for each function of a church. Simple but comprehensive statements of all a church should accomplish through its functions, such as, for example:
a. The objective of worship
1. To lead persons to seek God and consciously desire His presence continually.
2. To lead persons to renew their repentance from sin and to praise God for His strength and mercy.
3. To lead persons to engage regularly in prayers of petition and intercession.
4. To lead persons to respond in loving obedience to God's leadership.
b. The objectives of proclamation
1. Etc. ...
c. Etc. ...
5. State goals related to objectives. (Goals are means to achieving the objectives, sub-objectives, if you will, whereby progress toward objectives can be measured. They should be reasonable, attainable, set in advance for a fixed period, and written.)
The goals to be attained under the objectives of worship.
1. Evaluate the church's morning worship service and plan specific actions for more
Page 124
meaningful worship experiences for all ages by July of next year.2. Enlist — percent of the families of the church in daily worship by December 31, next year.
3. Provide training in planning for worship (fifteen hours) for all department superintendents, song leaders and pianists of the Sunday school by April 1, next year.
4. Adopt the statement of objectives and goals.
REFERENCES:
1. A Management Course for Air Force Supervisors, Conferences Outline 10, "How to Plan Work," Part 3, How to Get the Work Out, Superintendent of Documents, Washington, D.C.
2. Allen, Louis A., The Management Profession, McGraw-Hill, New York, 1957.
3. Ibid.
4. Action, September, 1965, p. 11.
5. Howse, W. L., "How to Determine Church Objectives," Church Administration, January, 1964, p. 8.
6. Ibid.
7. Tidwell, Charles A., "What Can Objectives Do for My Church?" Church Administration, February, 1966, p. 12.
8. Ibid.
