During my vacation we traveled to Europe. We originally planned to stay one week in Paris and a second week in Madrid. After 4 days in Paris, we realized we would get bored if we stayed the whole week. We had two options:

  1. Stay and be bored.
  2. Pull a map of Europe and choose a place to visit for a couple of days.

We chose to take the train and visit Brussels.

Project plans should allow for flexibility

While it’s important to have goals and to know how we will achieve them, it’s also crucial to remember that the one thing that is certain about your project plan, is that it will change.

It may be tempting to stay with the plan at all costs. The plan was thought through and approved. It’s the path that was chosen to get complete the project.

However, as time goes, what you and your team know will improve, and that will change how you see completing the project. One’s aversion to change should not be an obstacle to adjusting the plan.

As @threew said: a plan must allow flexibility.