Why does good IT planning not translate into good IT execution as often as we’d like?

Think of it as the difference between a flight plan and an actual flight. Pilots submit flight plans stating their intended departure time, route and arrival time. But the plan is just a plan. Once the engines are powered up, reality intervenes. Gate handlers, baggage handlers, increased wind speed or a weather system over Chicago mean a revised plan. And sometimes that revision has to happen in mid-flight. That’s why air traffic controllers don’t route planes based on the plan. The plan is only the starting point. As soon as the aircraft is ready to start moving another very important tool comes into play: RADAR. Air traffic controllers will constantly compare the expected location of an aircraft (from the flight plan) with the actual location. That constant feedback loop ensures that the system as a whole can fluidly respond to changing conditions and non-deterministic factors (late boarding passengers, sudden storm cells).

It’s nice to have a plan, but it’s even nicer to be ready to revise that plan. That’s where knowing how to compare the expected result with the actual result becomes very important.

-- DN0176