CIO Thoughts

Over my career to date I have built a number of teams, and restructured many more (not necessarily redundancies, rather changes in direction or scope as required).  In doing this I have come to the realisation that there are essentially 3 broad types of people – the do’ers, the planners and the planning do’ers. Now clearly the ones you generally want are the Planning Do’ers; the ones that work out what needs to be done and then get on and do it against a plan (obviously there is a bit of a continuum here). What I have found interesting is the ways in which to get planners doing and do’ers planning. 

What I have generally found is that it is easier to get do’ers to plan than it is to get planners to do.  Something in the paralysis by analysis, and a fear of making a mistake seems to hold planners back from getting on and getting things done.  Additionally, when you speak to a planner, there is an intrinsic need to ‘get everything just right’ before taking action.  Now those who are do’ers will say there is no point in planning, because as we all know, ‘the best laid plans of mice and men…’ and they will have experienced that taking action builds momentum, and momentum and excitement build new ideas and approaches (if they are flexible enough) and that things ‘will change anyway’ as they discover new ways to tackle things.  Both sides have their merits, and both are of course correct, just not all the time.  Like all things in life, balance is key.  Action without planning devolves into meaningless effort and wastes resources. Planning without doing is just as meaningless and unhelpful.

All in all though I really do prefer do’ers (perhaps it’s because I am so delivery oriented myself). You can pull a do’er back, restrict access to resources and generally put in controls before you let them go.  Then make sure they report back regularly against those controls.  Now, they will really take an intense dislike to you initially, but once you have one or two smaller projects, or phases of projects done successfully they will come around.

A planner on the other hand needs lots of encouragement, both carrot and stick, to get them to take the first step.  They also need to be forced to take a step when they will not feel they are sufficiently prepared.  Essentially their judgement on when enough planning has been done is impaired.  They need to be told directly that they have done a terrific job, and that the first task, and then the next, and then the next must be taken.  Unfortunately there is a need to sit on top of these perfectionists through each and every task, because at the first sign of something going slightly differently to their well laid out plans, they will panic, revert to type and resort to further planning! Eventually they will come around – they just need a series of successes, and to get the feeling of momentum and energy that builds up in a project as it gets going.  They also need to fail a few times, and recover from that failure (there really isn’t any failure – only feedback).  When they fail though, it is important as a manager to encourage them to keep going, think outside the box, focus on solutions and get things moving. Reflect, adapt and then implement – not stop (unless of course it is a truly major stuff-up in which case why weren’t you noticing what they were doing??).

Often when I interview people, I ask a series of questions which are designed to elicit where on the continuum of do’ers to planners they are. Can they do both, do they understand an 80/20 approach, can they build momentum and energy in a project.  All of these are important if you want a team who deliver and keep delivering, but do it with direction, purpose, reflection and adaption.

 

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