Have you ever felt like the things that you were doing were just not quite right.    Like the puzzle pieces just did not quite fit.  While you work on some parts of the puzzle, you still have unfinished business in the critical areas of the puzzle. 

Project planning is a lot like this.  Too many times people are anxious to get going.  They are not sure on the direction they need to take or what they are supposed to do, they just want to get moving.  The result is having to do a lot of re-work and extra effort because they did not venture down the right path to begin with.  It is expediency at the expense of planning.

I was thinking about all of this lately because we are venturing forward on a very large initiative and we had some core components still left undecided.  I was feeling the pressure to get moving and get something going.  I did not have peace about doing that because we were not in agreement with some of the foundational pieces.

I spent some additional time getting clarification on what the critical piece should look like.  I was then able to get some ideas on how to implement what we wanted to do, then I was able to get agreement with others on it.  After agreement was reached, it felt like the logjam had been broken.  I now had direction.  It was actually easy at this point because the work was paid for upfront.

We now had our marching orders.  It is foolish going into battle unprepared.  If you do, you will pay the price.  It is easier to react, react, react.  I am sure there was plenty of times when troops in battle were waiting for a decision to be made, or weather to clear, or other people to get into position.  You have to discipline yourself to follow a process and do things in the right order.  But when you do, you will have results that more fruitful and lasting.

So, take the time to slow down and plan. Then when you move, the momentum gained will not wane or be wasted.  You will be setting yourself for success!