Powerful Planning Skills
Envisioning the Future and Making It Happen
An anonymous quote opens this book and succinctly summarizes why Powerful
Planning Skills will prove useful: “To do great, two things are necessary: a
plan and not quite enough time.” This book is for those who suffer from the
latter because they don’t have the former, which allows for a large potential
audience.
A great deal of information is packed into short, punchy chapters. Like most
self-improvement books, this one opens with a few chapters that help the reader
understand the nature of planning and plans and analyze his or her personal
planning style. Readers will recognize themselves as perfectionists, chaotics,
referencers or trendsetters. The fourth chapter defines the basics of planning,
and outlines an eight-step process for developing a disaster-proof plan.
Helpful in this chapter is a case study involving Becky and her work group, who
have been charged with seeing their department through a certification process.
Each stage in their planning is documented, and the author uses the case study
to point out the most common planning mistakes. The next several chapters
provide tools for critiquing a plan as well as planning for chaos and change.
An overview of commonly used business tools, such as Gantt charts, Pareto
analyses and flowcharts, finishes the text. Exercises, case studies and sample
plans are used throughout to illustrate the concepts.
Capezio rightly points out that people seldom receive praise for their planning
skills; it is only the lack of these skills that draws attention. For those
looking to convert a weakness to a strength, this book can provide a quick
antidote to the lack-of-planning-skills blues.
Reviewed by
Vicki Gervickas
Disclosure: This article is not an endorsement, but a review. The publisher of this book provided free copies of the book to have their book reviewed by a professional reviewer. No fee was paid by the publisher for this review. Foreword Reviews only recommends books that we love. Foreword Magazine, Inc. is disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255.
