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GOVERNANCE & MINISTRY
by Dan Hotchkiss
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Two Kinds of Planning
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Excerpt
Alvaro Reyes on Unsplash “Plans are worthless, but planning is everything.” This military paradox, memorably stated by President Dwight Eisenhower, is particularly salient for congregations in this moment. So much has changed, so much is changing. Planning can seem useless when we are so likely to be forced to lay our plans aside and improvise. Some say the world is changing so fast that “planning” is outmoded altogether. I disagree. Nothing about the future has ever been certain, and yet every day we act as if we knew a little bit about tomorrow. With Eisenhower, I believe that in these times we should embrace the paradox of planning. We can plan with care and passion—and also be prepared to improvise when life does not unfold according to our plans. It helps to distinguish strategic planning from tactical planning. Boards often get frustrated when they try to do both at once.
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