The prime value of planning, as the shortest path to what we consider good, is unfolding new unknowns.
The most ubiquitous phenomenon in any kind of planning is the emergence of unknowns, some of which are actionable and others that are not. Each unknown represents at least one question we need to answer in order to move forward. Our momentum is equal to the rate at which we identify and answer these questions.
At the beginning of any process of planning we start with unknowns. Everything we do uncovers and unfolds new unknowns. This is true no matter how much our sense of predictability, certainty and commitment we have to any kind of actions in our planning process.
In planning that involves dreaming envisioning we dream and vision in order to discover new questions. And again this is true regardless of how much confidence we have in the certainty of our assumptions for the commitment to our convictions.
This is a very different way of looking at planning and certainly one which is far more realistic, agile and productive.