Planners vs. Doers

Often, everything from project plans to business development plans to career plans don't always work as intended.

D. Brown Management

January 6, 2019 2 minute read

To understand why, it is important to understand the psychological concepts of ego depletion and decision fatigue.

Quote: We are superior planners but become inferior doers as our environment exerts its influence through the course of our day. Marshall Goldsmith.

Many of us would simply prefer to “Get to Work” and start doing things, but we intellectually know that it’s important to create a plan so we can prioritize then execute most effectively.

Most things that come in “Off-Plan” are due to failures in disciplined execution rather than bad plans or lack of capabilities.

Focus heavily on the routine processes that will help you achieve your plan.
Create regular habits and routines that keep you and your team on-track.
Build motivation through disciplined execution.

Marshall Goldsmith does a great job discussing these in his book Triggers, including 6 Daily Questions we should all ask ourselves.

Lean Principle - Value Add vs. Non Value Add

For specialty contractors the field workforce represents most of their competitive advantage as well as their biggest source of variability. Making improvements to field productivity requires deeply understanding what truly adds value to the customer.

field productivity lean construction

Cash Flow and the 5Cs of Credit - Conditions

The 5th of the 5Cs of Credit are the conditions for the loan, which is primarily what the funds will be used for. These conditions are here to protect the contractor as much as they are there to protect the bank.

Connecting Metrics to Activities and Outcomes

Outcomes are created through doing the right activities. Data is only a proxy for that activity and a metric is a synthesis of lots of data points. Metrics are valuable, but always have a skeptical view of proxies for performance, especially with growth.

business management scoreboard technology