SUMMARY:
There is an overwhelming amount of human potential that goes unrealized because we are not taught how to effectively and efficiently direct our focus and energy. For a leader and mentor, there is alchemy in working with team members to explore process and task management and subsequently watching them flourish as they align their work itself with how they personally work best.
The goal of BETTER MADE PLANS and the PLAN OF ACTION blog is to provide tools and resources that allow you explore how you work best to build planning and productivity systems to achieve personally meaningful goals. Our philosophy is guided by four key principles:
PRINCIPLES OF A “BETTER MADE PLAN”:
PLANNING IS ABOUT ACTION: The quality of a plan is judged by how effectively it drives action and the results it achieves.
EFFECTIVE PLANNING NEEDS SYSTEMS: Consistent action to achieve long-term goals requires systems (processes and tools).
PLANNING IS PERSONAL: Individual uniqueness (goals, preferences, lifestyle, etc.) impact planning and need to be accounted for in system design.
FRICTION IS THE ENEMY: Function is the first priority in system design. Frustration, complexity, and inefficiency are barriers to use that must be overcome.
WHO IS BETTER MADE PLANS?
BETTER MADE PLANS is built out of a passion for empowering human potential. Our mission is helping individuals and teams hone their focus on what matters most and achieve their most meaningful goals.
We empower the thoughtful process of building individualized planning system to reduce friction in the planning process and allow individuals and teams to stay action-oriented. The plan itself isn’t the goal, it is merely the map.
It is about planning systems—not just another planner.
Effective planning does not exist in isolation from the realities of taking action and the planning process is rarely optimized through “one size fits all” approaches.
It is not about a singular planner that meets all of our productivity and time management needs— It is about having a system that you can rely on across situations to help you consistently make progress towards your goals and feel in control of your time and tasks.
The success of a planning system should be judged by whether it meets your needs—not whether you fit into someone else’s vision of the “right” way to plan.
The narratives and marketing around productivity are often toxic with gurus claiming to sell the one true way and preying upon people’s sincere desire and worry surrounding achieving personally meaningful goals.
Shame cycles and negative self-beliefs about lacking discipline or an inability to follow through with goals take root when outsize promises fall short again and again. After constantly trying and failing to “get things to click,” we start to believe we are the problem.
You are not broken.
The ability to work consistently towards meaningful goals is not beyond your capabilities. You just need to discover how you work best and build a planning system that meets your needs.
Time management, goal setting, task management, project management, and personal effectiveness generally are all skills you can learn but we are never purposefully and effectively taught. As a result, most of us white-knuckle our way through life with the desire to do and be more, but without the tools and resources to do so effectively.
The mission of BETTER MADE PLANS and the PLAN OF ACTION blog is to be your partner in building a productivity system that works for you and giving you the resources and support to implement it. The PLAN OF ACTION blog in particular seeks to provide real-world, actionable, tools and insight to help you understand your planning and productivity styles to build systems that work for you.
What motivates us is seeing individuals and teams reach their potential.
We resonate with those who are likewise animated and driven by a bigger vision behind and beyond the daily task grind. Together, we want to explore how you can best manage the elements of productivity so you can stay focused on what matters most to you.
While we design planning tools focused on addressing common planning challenges, our broader mission is to help you find tools that work for you and to help you build a system around your individual needs—whether that ends up including our products or not.
We base our insights and designs on our own lived frustrations with traditional planners and planning advice through over twenty years of experience in team management, project and program management, and leadership.