A little planning can go a long way.

If you have attended an Engleby Associates’ workshop previously you will know that.  This little story shows how planning and preparation are not just activities for the workplace but can help you wherever you are, whenever you are there.

We have just returned from a lovely summer holiday.  We bought a camper-van earlier this year (a heart, rather than a head purchase) and spent a very enjoyable couple of weeks in August travelling around The Netherlands and Germany.  Whilst we had a great time we did make a few mistakes pre-holiday which, if we had got right, would have made our holiday even more relaxing and enjoyable.  I’ve been thinking about these and how they relate to my work.

The power of Planning.  The power of Preparation.

Elmer Letterman said: “Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity”.

In our haste to make sure we arrived in time for the ferry we left our road map of Europe behind – home alone.  This meant that, until we cracked and bought a new map, Laura was navigating (actually pretty well all things considered) using a large scale map of Europe.  Not the easiest thing to do unless you are intent on driving the motorway from one major city to the next.  Think major artery, route 1.  A lack of preparation.

If we had planned effectively we would have researched a few campsites prior to embarking on our holiday.  We could have still been spontaneous and maintained our desire to be able to follow the sun (or the sun on my iPhone app at least), however, we would have known more about where we were heading.  We would have been able to chose from a range of pre-selected sites where great facilities existed and where our kids would have had lots to do and plenty of water to swim in.

We were lucky.

We mostly picked good sites and only had a few of those, it’s getting dark, we are not sure where we are going and we have no idea what or where a suitable campsite is.

So, remember, a little planning can go a long way – at work, at school or at home.

Filed under: Miscellaneous, planning