Failure to plan?
SteveEverybody has one, that one management or business maxim that while you admit is probably sort of true at its core, you are still pretty sick of.
Some candidates for the 'I am so sick of hearing that' distinction are these beauties:
Subdivision - Maricopa County, AZ
'What can't be measured, can't be managed'
Blah, blah, blah, anything at all really, leading up to the '80-20' rule being cited.
Or any initiative that involves 'moving needles', 'shifting paradigms', or 'pushing envelopes'.
But my number one in the 'Not again' category is 'Begin with the end in mind'.
I know, it is probably a reasonable assertion that you should have some idea where you want to go before you set off on the journey. Otherwise, you'd wander around foolishly, right? You'd just be a hopeless, clueless, aimless idiot until you either collapsed in a ditch at the side of the road, or if you're lucky, managed to retrace your steps to make it home. Tired, dirty, defeated, but at least potentially smarter from the experience. No way you are doing that again, is the lesson learned.
I can't stand 'Begin with the end in mind' because too often people and organizations translate 'in mind' to 'completely and totally figured out, with any deviation from the end, to be considered unacceptable, and quite possibly an abject failure.'
When you think about how many projects or initiatives in the organization, both ones that are successful and complete positively, and ones that crash and burn, don't end up looking much at all like how you thought they would when you set out, it seems to me that worrying so much about precisely defining 'the end', is often wasted effort.
How much of 'the end' did you have in mind when you set out on your career path, went on your first date with your spouse or significant other (man, what a lame phrase), or reached in to the giant box of Legos for the first piece of your last masterpiece?
Is what you are doing right now, right as you are reading this, what you had 'in mind' a few hours ago? Last week? Last year?
That's why I hate 'Begin with the end in mind'. I much prefer, 'Just begin'.
