Flawless Planning Brief Guide

This is a brief guide to using Flawless Planning in any planning situation. You can use this whether or not you have what you would consider a clear, solid “plan.” It doesn’t matter how simple or complex the situation, or whether you’re planning on your own or with others. It doesn’t matter how predictable or unpredictable your situation seems. For more details, see the Workbook in the last section of Flawless Planning.

Expect to do it right the first time because there is no way to do it “wrong.” Also, expect to get better at it the more you use the model in planning. You’ve had all the prerequisite skills necessary since you were quite young.

Plan Mapping

Thinking about the situation you want to plan for, describe what you imagine:

  • Feeling

  • Doing

  • Assuming

  • Wondering

Imagining means anticipating. You can be vague or detailed. Name and describe as many things as come to mind. You can come back to this to add or edit items.

Scenario Mapping

Name and describe possible scenarios—different versions of the situation within the four quadrants”

  • Favorable-likely scenarios

  • Favorable-unlikely scenarios

  • Unfavorable-likely scenarios

  • Unfavorable-unlikely scenarios.

Locate each in the quadrants. You might have empty quadrants. Where you locate scenarios are just best guesses.Depending on what happens, you might later discover more, eliminate some, edit some, or move them within and between the quadrants.

Scenario Composing

Decide which scenarios you want to plan and for each, compose your aspirations, inspirations, and abilities.

Aspirations

Describe what matters to you in this scenario and why it matters to you. What matters is what’s important to you. Know these could change over time.

Inspirations

For favorable scenarios, imagine what you would want to see, hear, feel, and do in each scenario. For unfavorable scenarios, imagine what you expected to see and hear and what you would want to feel and do in each scenario. Imagine these with as much sensory detail as possible.

Abilities

For each scenario, name what you already know how to do that would support what you want to feel and do. Then recall times when you did these, visualize how you did these and how it feels to visualize these.

Question Composing

Looking over your composed scenarios, create a list of questions all of this raises for you. These questions all begin with classic question forms like who, what, when, where, why, how, whether, which, what if, will we, should we, could we, and how could we.

To compose questions, think about what you’re assuming and wondering and translate these into questions. Think about what’s unclear, unconfirmed, and undecided and translate these into questions. Compose as many questions as you can, knowing that more questions lead to better questions.

Compose questions related to your planning results, situation, and actions.

  • Results questions: These are related to what results you want to see and make possible

  • Situation questions: These are related to better understanding the elements of your planning scenario

  • Action questions: These are related to what you will do to make your results possible

Organize your questions in the order in which you think you should best answer them. Describe how you will answer each. Start each with actions words like find out, experiment with, decide, notice, sketch, build, test, and implement.

Then decide when you will answer each question within specific days, weeks, or months. These are just guesses which can be changed as you go.

New questions will come from the answers to your questions. Add these to your ongoing list of questions. If someone asks you what your “plan” is, all you do is tell them what questions you’re working on and through. You will move at the speed of your questions in the direction of your composed scenarios.

Also check out the Flawless Planning FAQs

Use this form for any questions, suggestions, or success stories you’d like to share. Thank you.