Welcome to PlanningSkills.COM

This website focuses on a wide variety of topics related to organization and individual planning situations. The primary focus is business planning.

Planning is an anticipatory decision making process that involves situation analysis, forecasting outcomes and events, evaluating alternative courses of action, anticipating consequences and considering implementation issues and contingencies. Planning often begins with asking one or more questions, for example: What if ...? Could we ...? Do we ...? Is it possible...? How should we respond ...? How can we ...? Is it feasible to ...?

In general, planning is a proactive process that is intended to help individuals, groups and organizations achieve performance objectives.

Featured Glossary Term

A weak signal is 1) an idea or trend indicating a change that may affect a business or organization; 2) a new and surprising fact; 3) a low likelihood threat or opportunity to an organization that is often scoffed at by people who "know"; 4) an issue with a substantial lag time before it will impact planning and society.

According to Ansoff (1979), weak signals of incipient changes can help managers avoid strategic surprises. He also notes weak signals progressively increase in strength as environmental signs become stronger (p. 187).

Featured Planning Tip

A common assumption is that the best-run organizations have the clearest and most detailed plans for the future. But some effective organizations make "fuzzy" plans - flexible plans that provide a general direction without committing anyone to an irrevocable course of action.

Flexible implies the plans are capable of change; able to adjust readily to different conditions; and open to change.

"To predict the future, we need logic; but we also need faith and imagination, which can sometimes defy logic itself." - Arthur C Clarke

Maneuver -- Place the enemy in a position of disadvantage through the flexible application of combat power.