Oh My, I Hate My Job

There is a difference between plans and strategies.  In the post Embracing a Paradox to Lower Your Work Stress I went into how knowing the difference between the two can be a huge stress reliever in your work.

I wish I could remember where I saw this insight, I just know it’s from the strategist Gary Gagliardi.

Here it is in a nutshell…

Plans are for controllable environments.

Strategies are for uncontrollable environments.

Let’s just look at planning today.  Plans are connected with control, but what defines something, an environment, as controllable?

How do you handle…

Time

• Are activities periodic?
• How much of things are scheduled?
• Are their regular and knowable delays between actions or events?
• Do you have time to react and reorganize to events?

Space

• Are there clear boundaries between areas and activity?  Is there a clear boundary around the main task or project? (does everything happen within 4 walls, a floor and a ceiling?)
• Are tools ordered within the space?  Does everything have its place and is everything in its place?
• Is the space relatively unchanging or predictably changing?
• Are the entrance and exit of people, tools, and information fully known and highly predictable?

Physical Resources

• Do you know all the tools needed for the activity?
• Do you have the energy, power, assets and/or cash flow to perform the activities?

Human Resources

• Are relationships between people prescribed, understood, and predictable?
• Is the level of know how available and understood?

Information

• Is information readily available and comprehensive?
• Is information easily collected and disseminated?
• Is the entire system of the project knowable and understandable?

If an environment, if your work environment, if your project answers a majority of these questions with a “yes” or “most likely” then you have a controllable environment.  Plans will probably work here.