The Power of the “P-Word”: Why Good Planning Still Matters

Albert Einstein has often been attributed with saying, “If I had an hour to solve a problem, I'd spend the first 55 minutes thinking about the problem and 5 minutes thinking about solutions.” Projects deliver strategies and solve problems, too. For decades, technology projects have lived and died on the strength of their planning. Yet in today’s fast-moving world, “plan” has almost become a four-letter word. Many organizations attempt to implement improvisation (and even chaos) disguised as agility or rapid application development (in name only). Others spread resources so thin across too many initiatives that none succeed as well as they could.

Looking back on my own career, I’ve seen the difference planning makes and what happens when it’s abandoned. The contrast is stark. I'm going to share two projects, separated by about a decade, that highlight how disciplined planning helped us succeed against the odds.

A Compiler in Under a Year: Doing the Impossible

In the early 1980s, corporations like IBM and Univac were still the mainframe giants. At the time, it typically took systems teams three to five years (or more) to produce a new compiler. So when I took on a project to finish where an R&D team had left off, the goal was ambitious: create a compiler, relocatable assembler, and linkage editor for a family of computers powering the world’s largest private computer network.

The challenge was clear. The only existing tool was a non-relocatable assembler, a relic from the 1960s. Development builds took more than eight hours to complete. That meant low productivity and slow delivery of critical network products and services. By introducing relocatable code, we could cut build times to minutes, dramatically increasing productivity.

From Proof of Concept to Real Work

To prove the feasibility of the project, a small R&D team had already ported a portable Pascal-P4 compiler to our lab mainframe. The real work of the  project was still ahead:

• Developing a code generator for a new computer family.
• Building a relocatable assembler from scratch.
• Modifying a linkage editor from another project.
• Creating supporting tools, such as a macro generator and cross-reference utility.

Three Months of Planning

We spent three months planning. During that time, we explored work approaches, estimated tasks, and defined a common object file format. This format enabled seamless communication between the code generator, assembler, and linkage editor, allowing each team member to focus on their specific assignments.

We also discovered we could reuse part of a linkage editor developed by another group. We salvaged 80% of the logic, which dramatically reduced the development effort.

A Small Team, a Big Result

The development team was lean but focused:

• One developer built the assembler.
• One wrote the code generator.
• One modified the linkage editor.
• Two others worked on supporting tools and miscellaneous routines.

By month nine, we were already testing with live code in our lab. Just over a year from the start, the system was complete, and every computer in the network ran on the new code.

The result wasn’t just speed. It was quality. Because we had planned carefully, including a focus on unit and integration testing, only five bugs surfaced in the first six months of operation. The system stayed in productive use for more than a dozen years, with only one small enhancement request.

The secret to success was planning. Without those three upfront months, we never would have delivered a working system in a single year.

A $10 Million Unix Rollout: Infrastructure on the Line

Fast forward a decade. I was working as a program manager responsible for several projects tied to a $10-20 million Unix rollout. My colleague handled procurement and hardware. My role was to equip 400 developers across 16 locations worldwide with workstations.

That meant:

• Delivering workstations.
• Training every developer on basic services.
• Providing specialized training for their areas of expertise.
• Building and sustaining a long-term support model.

Everything seemed on track until senior management realized they had made a crucial oversight.

The Network That Didn’t Exist

The original rollout plan excluded an internal network. That decision quickly proved unworkable. Other divisions were approached for help, but their cost estimates, averaging $1m, far exceeded expectations.

Suddenly, I was sitting in an emergency meeting. The workstations were due in six months, and we had no way to connect them. A consultant was introduced, and together we had about a week to come up with a viable plan.

The Planning Sprint

We got to work immediately:

• Built a detailed work breakdown structure (WBS).
• Sketched a basic network diagram for both facilities and the field offices.
• Drafted a line-item budget that included hubs, brouters, wiring, shelving for phone closets, building services for wire pulls, and support from telephone and electrical teams.

The total came to about $300,000, with more than a dozen people contributing effort at various points.

Our most significant breakthrough was deceptively simple: every office already had extra telephone/modem jacks that could double as LAN ports. This discovery was the most critical cost saver of the entire project.

Cutting Costs, Not Corners

Senior managers asked us to trim $50,000. After review, we made two pragmatic changes. We used a less formal wiring plan for a smaller building. There was a short-term lease, and we learned the offices would be moved to another facility in less than a year.

We also built some cables in-house instead of purchasing everything pre-made. These adjustments enabled us to meet the revised budget without compromising reliability, ultimately hitting management’s target.

On Time, Under Budget

Careful management of each installation phase ensured we met every deadline. The wiring was in place, lab workstations were connected, and even PCs and Macs were brought online before the Unix workstations arrived.

Not only did we finish on time, but the savings also let us fund a T1 line to connect two key facilities. Management had considered this optional, but with planning, we achieved it comfortably.

Once again, the key was disciplined planning, done quickly but thoroughly.

When Planning Disappears

These two stories illustrate the value of planning and highlight how far many organizations have drifted away from it.

Over the years, I’ve seen companies dismiss planning as unnecessary or outdated:

• The “I wanted it yesterday” mindset – I once worked at a debt-funded company where the owner demanded everything immediately. The company, which was entirely debt-funded, was bankrupt within a year.
• The “chase them around” approach – Some teams claim they’re practicing rapid application development or agile methods. In reality, their project managers run from desk to desk, chasing status instead of guiding outcomes.
• The scattergun problem – Organizations start 20 projects with the resources to deliver five. The result? Broken promises, poor quality, and frustrated clients.

Agility doesn’t mean abandoning planning. It means balancing flexibility with foresight. Planning remains the foundation that ensures the energy, creativity, and speed of development don’t collapse into chaos.

The Record Speaks for Itself

It might sound bold to say I never managed a well-planned project that didn’t finish on time and on budget. But the record speaks for itself. When you plan carefully, the odds of success are dramatically improved.

The compiler project demonstrated that a three-month effort focused on requirements, high-level design, and coordination could reduce a multiple-year project into a single year. The Unix rollout network proved that even under extreme time and budget pressure, disciplined planning could successfully deliver a complex infrastructure project.

The Takeaway: Don’t Fear the “P-Word”

Too often, planning is treated as a waste of time, a luxury, or a bureaucratic burden. But the opposite is true. Planning is the key to speed, quality, and sustainability.

If you’re starting a project, don’t shy away from the p-l-a-n-word. Embrace it and make it a required step of your project method.

In reality, you’ll find that good planning doesn’t slow you down, as I have time and again. It gets you across the finish line faster, cheaper, and with better results than you imagined possible.