Planning for Everything
By Peter Morville
“A plan is a design or map used to render intent or reach a goal. To plan is to wonder before we wander.
Likes
Peter Morville is a fantastic story teller, and there are many packed into this compact book
Fantastic information architecture, as expected- neatly organized chapters
A great light read on the fundamental concept of planning
Dislikes
The “Star Finder” framework was not well articulated, I didn’t leave the book with an understanding of how to use it- dampening the book’s practicality
The “Star Finder” framework itself is similar to many teachings in futures/speculative design, but Morville makes it easy
Synopsis
This book was a delight. Perhaps I’m biased because I met Peter Morville at a talk in Ann Arbor when he released Intertwingled, but I find the way he crafts stories and presents information to be top-notch. Morville was a member of the popular agency Adaptive Path which spun off some of the best human-centered designers the world knows. This book is his take on the art and importance of planning, but delves into much deeper topics across multiple branches of history to help illustrate points. This book is short and easy to read, and provides a guide to planning for yourself, for a business, anything- you name it. I wish there was more of a framework I could grasp onto to help put these things to use, but Morville’s main points have stuck so I have a feeling I’ll be utilizing what I learned in the book without even knowing it.
Biggest Learnings
The meaning of planning depends on person, preference and context
Planning starts with needs in the here and now and ends with a goal, what’s between is a path.
Designers make ideas tangible so we can see what we think. “It’s not just what it looks like and feels like, it’s how it works.”
Belief is a hidden force that shapes both paths and goals. If we ignore the sources of intent and prediction in ourselves and others, our plans are likely to fail.
“A person should set their goals as early as they can and devote all their energy to getting there”… “all our dreams can come true if we have the courage to pursue them” -Walt Disney
Framing is the process of understanding and explaining our plans
Before we define a solution, it’s worth exploring which elements are fixed and flexible. Goals may change depending on progress and feedback.
“Words make people hallucinate”
People respond to a specifically stated reason even if it adds no information.
A clear goal helps us endure, but grit can blind us to insight. “Fear is a natural reaction to moving closer to the truth” -Peña Chodron
If we hope to help people with goals we must search for intent
To be free is to have options, and the first step to freedom is awareness.
Reframing goals as intents allows us to explore more solutions to an intent.
Breadth vs. depth-first planning. Experts explore breadth before the depth of a single path.
Narrowing helps us evaluate options.
Drivers and levers: Drivers play a role in eliminating paths. Levers on the other hand open new paths and fortify existing possible paths.
It’s wise to question the answers.
A way to boost accuracy is to break tasks into subtasks and estimate each one.
The critical path in a plan is the longest path and often has zero slack
Options are traps. Two-way doors are heavier than we think. We are sad and indecisive when forced to confront trade-offs.
A plan is a design or map used to render intent or reach a goal. To plan is to wonder before we wander.
The world doesn’t act rationally so imposing choices on a decision tree is a recipe for failure. We also have biases at play that need to be acknowledged when making a decision.
Often the worst choice is making a choice that wasn’t yours to make- bring others in.
To execute is to “carry out a plan”, but the dichotomy between do and plan is false.
One of the most difficult questions an entrepreneur must face is whether to pivot the original strategy or persevere.
Intuition is the use of patterns already learned, whereas insight is the discovery of new patterns. -Gary Klein
Experts gain insight by seeing connections, coincidences, curiosities, and contradictions others miss, but they can also be trapped by overconfidence in flawed beliefs, which makes it tough to pivot.
Kanban makes executing social, tangible and agile.
In reflecting we look back to go forward. We search the past for truths and insights to shift the future.
People who as a matter of habit extract underlying principles or rules from new experiences are more successful learners than those who take their experiences at face value, failing to infer lessons that can be applied later in similar situations.
Reflection is more fruitful if we know our own minds.
Our best laid plans go awry because complexity exists within as well as without.
Related Books:
On Task
Designing Experiences