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The Need for Planning
As planners we strive to develop the best programs and strategies to enhance student learning and advance our institutional mission while meeting our desired outcomes. This work, while rewarding, can be time intensive and demanding and developing new initiatives is not without risks. Some common reasons these efforts fail include: lack of buy-in from key players and constituents, insufficient time or resources, and inadequate planning that does not take into account all barriers to success. In fact, the inability to negotiate these planning barriers or failure to plan at all are the primary reasons that new programs and initiatives fail. It is essential that we invest the time and resources needed in our planning processes if we hope to develop the best programs and strategies. In short, we must effectively plan for success in a complex, dynamic, and real-world environment (Dooris, Kelley, & Trainer, 2004).
Developing a program or strategy can be compared to a simple, everyday task such as preparing dinner - the effort put into the process often correlates with the quality of the outcome. Sometimes after a long day at work, we lack the energy or time to make a well-balanced, nutritious dinner. It is just easier to look in the freezer, pull something out and pop it in the microwave. While this method certainly saves time, our dinner is not going to be as healthy or satisfying as it would be if we took the time to prepare a nourishing meal. There will always be times when we have to use shortcuts in the kitchen. But how many of us would take this approach if we were planning a dinner party for our closest friends? Most likely, we would want to serve the best-tasting meal possible even though it would take significant time and energy to prepare. Are our constituents any different? Is it fair to serve up strategies that have not been given our full energy and attention? Or should we be content with shortcut approaches that get the job done but fail to satisfy fully?
In order to create the most effective programs and strategies we must plan carefully. Doing so, however, can be an arduous, demanding, and haphazard process (Dickmeyer, 2004). A number...