The new paradigm in planning

Allow me to introduce you to our new company, Planadigm. Planadigm is a contraction of planning and paradigm. Planning is the process of thinking regarding the activities required to achieve a desired goal. Paradigm is a distinct set of concepts or thought patterns, coming from the Greek word ‘paradeigma’, meaning “pattern, example, sample”.

Planadigm is the new paradigm in planning, a new concept and thought patterns to improve planning processes. Improving by reducing unnecessary steps because we have the tendency to overcomplicate the planning process over time. Improving by reducing the number of layers involved, too many people need to interfere with the process. And improving by removing legacy planning systems that are rigid in setup and maintenance by a state-of-the-art planning platform (Pigment).

Planning can be effortless if we start to realise that a plan is per definition wrong. It is a forward-looking exercise at a certain moment, but as we move forward, all kinds of unpredicted and unforeseen events will happen. A plan is a guidance to steer and to trigger a decision-making process: what can we do to get back on track, or do we accept a deviation from plan?

How did we get to the point where the planning process became too complex, slow, and difficult to maintain? We created this complex planning process by adding different layers, top-down versus bottom-up, where the latter has little or no accountability for the numbers they put in. Unclear guidance and boundary setting from management, too many functions involved, complicated formulas and rigid software to support the planning process, resulting in a lengthy (sometimes more than six months) and cumbersome planning process. Which results in lack of ownership of the plan (who owns the numbers in the plan after several iterations?) and accountability by the planners.

If we allow ourselves to bring back the planning process to its core (minimal activities required to achieve a desired goal) and empower people at the lowest level in the organisation to own their plan and take responsibility to achieve the plan, we’re good to go to be prepared for anything that comes along our path.

And if that agile process is supported by a business owned, state-of-the-art planning platform, that supports the planners to adjust the plan quickly and the ability to create scenarios on the fly, adjustments to unexpected events are easy to make.

I favour ‘via negativa’, to reduce complexity by deleting non-value added steps from the process. And the use of new technology to support this agile process. Removal makes it simple, fast and transparent, technology is here to support us as a planner. That is what we aim for at Planadigm, the new paradigm in planning.

Let’s get in contact if you are interested in opportunities for improvement and create your new paradigm in planning. We’re happy to discuss and see where we can support.

Planadigm: the new paradigm in planning.