Lesson 3: A - A Solid Plan
Contents
Video
A Solid Plan
The second element of CAR is a Solid Plan. Knowing your destination is not enough. You need a realistic path for getting there - one that accounts for the real constraints your team is working within and the real risks that could derail you.
Plans are not predictions. The plan will change. What matters is that you start with one, that it is honest, and that you update it as reality unfolds rather than pretending the original plan still holds when it clearly does not.
What a Solid Plan Includes
Milestones and Checkpoints
Break the work down into meaningful stages. What does progress look like at the one-month mark? The halfway point? What has to be true before the next phase can begin? Milestones convert a long, abstract goal into a sequence of concrete, achievable steps - and they give you and your team regular opportunities to assess whether you are on track.
Dependencies
Most work does not happen in isolation. What does your team need from other teams? What do other teams need from yours? What external factors - vendor timelines, regulatory approvals, product decisions - could affect your plan? Map these out before you start, not when they become problems.
Risks and Contingencies
A plan that does not account for risk is not a plan - it is an optimistic projection. What could go wrong? What is the likelihood and impact of each risk? What would you do if it materialized?
You do not need to have a contingency for every possible scenario. Focus on the risks that are both plausible and would significantly affect the outcome. For those, have a rough plan B ready.
Ownership
Every element of the plan needs a clear owner - a single person who is accountable for that piece of work. Not "the team" and not "everyone" - one person who will be the driver. Shared ownership tends to be no ownership.
Plans and Adaptability
A good plan helps your team move faster, not slower - because it reduces the time spent figuring out what to do next and lets people focus on doing it. But a plan that leaders cling to past its usefulness becomes a liability.
Build a regular cadence of plan review into your operating rhythm. Not to justify the original plan - but to honestly assess whether it still holds, and to update it if it does not. Leaders who update their plans are not admitting failure. They are demonstrating good judgment.