Set Your Plan With a Natural Planning Model

Posted by Ian McKenzie
Written on September 9, 2009

In his book, Getting Things Done, David Allen outlines a project planning model that mirrors the natural process of the human mind. He calls this the Natural Planning Model. It has five phases and can be used for projects of any size or complexity. He uses going out for dinner as an example of how the process works.

1. Define the purpose and principles: The first step is the why of the process. Why are we doing this? In the case of going out for dinner, is it because you’re hungry or you want to get together with friends or you want to celebrate your anniversary? Your principles (whether conscious or unconscious) will set the boundaries around moving the process forward.

2. Seeing the outcome: What will the successful end result look like? Is it candle-lit French dining or Chick E. Cheese’s with the kids? You don’t start by seeing next steps, but by envisioning the successful outcome.

3. Brainstorming: Once you have an outcome in mind, you start thinking about the steps needed to get there. For a simple project, this goes on in your mind. What time shall we go? Do we need reservations? Are we going to invite anyone to join us? Do we need to get a baby-sitter? For more complex projects, you use more formal systems of brainstorming or mind mapping.

4. Organizing: With these ideas brought to the surface, you can now begin to create the structure for moving the project forward. Who will do what? What is the most important action? Should we check the baby-sitter’s availability? Who will call the restaurant?

5. Identifying next actions: Once the process is organized, do the thing(s) that need to be done. Book baby-sitter, call Bill and Jill, reserve table, etc.

Going out for dinner can be planned quickly in your own mind, with these five steps. Using this process on a larger project may require meetings, committees, sub-committees and approvals. However, this basic structure can simplify any project.

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