Guessing is not a strategy: How to build decision velocity with AI and real-time data
June 10, 2026 | Live Webinar
Planning for Change
Every project needs a plan. Our tacit assumption seems to be that we can plan the project from start to finish, and then simply carry out our plan. In the real world, it isn’t so simple, because the project environment often changes before we can complete the plan.
This is especially true for the most valuable type of projects--those involving innovation. In innovation, we work at the frontiers of the known, creating something that hasn’t existed before. In so doing, things are likely to change from the plan. For instance, a member of our team leaves the company, the customer desires new product features after seeing a prototype, a new technology appears or a competitor changes the business model for the industry.
I work with many innovation teams, and I observe their project managers consumed in re-planning as the ground shifts beneath them. They apparently waste considerable time re-planning as their plans become obsolete. What can we do to make planning more efficient in a world of change?
First, remember that the process of planning is more valuable than the final document. As General--later, President--Dwight Eisenhower put it, “In preparing for battle, I have always found that plans are useless but planning is indispensable.” Planning uncovers assumptions that should be challenged, risks that should be addressed …
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