Planners vs. Doers

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

D. Brown Management Profile Picture
D. Brown Management
January 6, 2019 2 minute read
Share

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.

Evaluation Categories and Weighting
Whether you are evaluating your own performance or someone else’s, it is important to start thinking about some of the higher level categories. The weight assigned to each of these depends on the stage someone is at in their career.
Related Article
Labor Productivity - How Much Could You Save?
Winners of the construction labor productivity is a game focus on minutes and seconds looking at ways to eliminate waste. There are 480 minutes in an 8 hour shift. Typically only 307 of them are spent installing material. What are 10 minutes worth?
Related Article
Lessons from the 9th Grade
At the beginning our our lives, careers and businesses we can get into an extremely comfortable position with someone else taking nearly 100% of the responsibility. Someone else tells us what to do, how to do it and when it needs to be done by.
Related Article