Planning is good because it gives you a path to follow. But that’s not the only benefit of planning. To me, the most important part of the process of planning is that along the way you are also thinking about alternatives. Sometimes unconsciously, but you do. Plan A, plan B, plan C.
Plans are 100% guaranteed to go wrong at some point. And that’s why one must be flexible when that happens and adjust accordingly. Adapt. Mutate. Re-direct. Pivot. You name it.
What is key is to not panic and get paralysed because the plan didn’t work out perfectly as you had envisaged.
As Darwin famously said: “It is not the strongest of the species that survives, not the most intelligent that survives. It is the one that is the most adaptable to change.”
“Notice that the stiffest tree is most easily cracked, while the bamboo or willow survives by bending with the wind.” Bruce Lee
