The Purpose Of A Gameplan

We have all heard about the importance of having a Plan, or for the sports people out there, a Gameplan.

Many Leaders create these Gameplans, but most of the time they fade away.

Months go by.

The Leader asks their teams how the Gameplan is going.

No one remembers what was discussed.

Or worse, the Leader sees that things are not going according to the Gameplan and so throws it out entirely.

I have seen this happen a lot (and have been the person throwing out the Gameplan as well).

It is all too common.

Why is it so common?

Largely, it is because we as Leaders often fail to understand what the purpose of a Gameplan actually is.

There tend to be two ways we get it wrong.

Problem 1

First, many Leaders think that the Gameplan is what tells people what to do.

Here's the Plan, go do it.

They believe that it is static, a document that everyone will adhere to because the Leader sets it.

One thing I've learned about people, they rarely do what we think they will.

This leads to people eventually straying and pursuing their own things.

Most of the time this happens out of necessity.

"I needed to do this in order to close X deal."

"A machine broke down so I had to do something different."

"I didn't get what I needed so I simply couldn't do it."

The longer this happens, the less likely people will stick to any plan.

Eventually, they will forget a plan existed in the first place.

There are a few things you can guarantee when you leave a plan and expect people to follow it.

Some people will ignore it completely.

Some people will get bored.

Only a few people will give their best efforts to it, but often will falter when things don't go according to the Gameplan.

The more people that drop from the plan, the harder it is to get the results you hope for.

Problem 2

Second, many Leaders think that the Gameplan is the entire path.

If we don't "stick" to it, then the entire Gameplan is ruined.

This way of using a Gameplan will guarantee failure.

Life always happens.

Chaos will ensue.

It is impossible to take into account every single possibility.

Just when you think you can, life will laugh in your face and give you a host of problems you never thought possible.

If you're lucky like me, this will happen to you daily!

If this is your approach to a Gameplan, you will inevitably throw it out at some point.

When chaos occurs, it will demolish this Gameplan and render it useless.

If you haven't figured out how to get your team to work together, this is also where people will start saying things like, "I knew it would never work."

Typically these Gameplans take a long time to create (since you have to attempt, in vain, to see all the potential possibilities.

Due to this, it becomes all the more frustrating to watch it crumble around you.

This frustration, for many Leaders, will begin a process of tearing teams apart.

However, if we utilize Gameplans correctly, we can avoid these problems.

The Solution

In order to overcome these, we need to realize that a Gameplan is neither designed to tell people everything they are supposed to do, nor is it designed to take everything into account.

A Gameplan should be a reference document that you and your team refer back to frequently and also provides freedom to do what is needed.

Think of it as a guide as opposed to the specifics of how to do things.

When things go sideways, the Gameplan should be enough to help people get "back" on the plan, but also not be restrictive.

Chaos will happen.

The Gameplan should give people an understanding of what needs to be moved toward to keep moving forward.

When Chaos strikes, we refer to the Gameplan to see how we can align forward.

Sometimes, the Gameplan won't tell us the specifics of what needs to be done, and it shouldn't!

We need to have enough autonomy on our teams to be able to pivot and change when Chaos strikes.

Teams can use that autonomy to make the necessary changes, then they can reference back to the Gameplan to adjust how things need to be moving forward.

In Football, they call this an "Audible", an alteration that needs to be made due to something that wasn't seen.

After the Audible, the team moves back toward the Gameplan.

This autonomy and ability to change is also necessary, which is why the Gameplan can never be the "whole" plan.

It is only enough of a Guide to continually be referenced back to.

You can also think of it like a map - if you know the goal is to get to a specific point, and there's a general path to follow, your team can generally go on the path most of the time.

However, on the Path you may find that there was supposed to be a bridge, and it isn't there.

If your team isn't referencing the Gameplan, not referencing the map, they may all go in different directions from here.

Some may get lost,

Some may go back to where they started.

A few might try to Jump even though it is ill-advised.

If your team is told the "only" way to cross is the bridge, they will likely give up.

However, if we keep the Team's autonomy, and allow for the necessary changes, many solutions may become available.

Maybe the team will find an alternate available route.

Maybe the resources are available to build a new bridge.

Maybe there are people on your team who are expert climbers (metaphorically), and they can guide people down one side and up the other side!

The autonomy allows for more potential solutions to unseen problems.

Your Gameplans need to be able to adjust as necessary, due to the inevitable things we cannot foresee.

Your Gameplans also need to be something people continually reference, otherwise, they will be forgotten.

This is why so often Leaders get Gameplans wrong.

Make your Gameplan something referenceable, and give your teams the ability to have autonomy and be flexible when life happens.