Pie anyone?

Recently I had someone ask for my vision of a project I’m currently leading. I gave the appropriate amount of thought to the issue, and outlined where I saw the project going and what I wanted to achieve with it as a leader. I was actually quite pleased with my response as I hit send and leaned back in my chair.

The answer which came back puzzled me. The boss wanted to know, was this my current vision or the future direction? I’m sure it made sense in the head of the one who typed it, but the longer I read the sentence, the less I understood.

Finding my pie

To me, both “current vision” and “future direction” are one and the same. I plan a project by envisioning the end result. The pie in the sky. The big banana. Whatever you want to call it. I really take the time to understand what I want to achieve as an end result. From there, all planning takes place.

Once I have my pie in the sky future vision, that’s when I start planning the steps in between. What do I have to do today to make that happen? What about tomorrow? And after that? What are the steps between me and the pie? Those are the nuts and bolts of how I plan. My planning is nothing without the future constantly in mind. My today is dictated by that pie. After all, what was the point of deciding where to go if we never planned on getting there?

Would you plan a vacation and never board your flight? I wouldn’t. Likewise, I would not book a flight to an unknown location and get on board until I knew where I was landing and what would happen once I got off again. We don’t plan other areas of our lives this way, so why should project planning be any different?

Is there a difference?

My final issue was that both the terms “current vision” and “future direction” refer back to the pie. Envisioning, looking to the future, it is all planning. It is all pie. Don’t misunderstand, I like pie. But pie is pie, my friends. And if you’re looking for a brownie, pie probably won’t cut it.

In the end, after a few communication mis-starts, the boss and I figured out what was needed and put it all together. I did not lecture anyone on pie. I saved that all for you.

The Question

But the entire experience raised some interesting questions for me. When you approach a new project (or even an old one) how do you plan? Do you find your pie first, or do you deal with details first? How can details even be dealt with if there is no pie? Can you project plan without pie? If you never get to your pie, can you have a successful project? I want to know.