Why plan? Why not?

Today, I was supervising a group of students completing a piece of writing under supervised conditions. There were 28 students in the room. The task was to take 30 minutes - 5 minutes of planning, 20 minutes of writing and 5 minutes of editing.

Once the students began the 5 minute planning stage, I circulated around the room and observed the following: 27 students were busily doing as they had been told, making their plans in the designated space on the test. Then there was the one student who had merrily gone on his way, dispensing with the planning stage and moving straight into the writing phase.

It started me thinking. I wonder whether that particular student plans on travelling in the future, not necessarily on an overseas trip, but even a trip within Australia. Will he make a plan or will he just dive straight in and hope for the best? Will he take each day of the trip as it comes or will he know where he will be staying tomorrow night and how he will get there? Come to think of it, if he's not a planner by nature, he probably hadn't planned where he was meeting his friends for lunch today, let alone some nebulous future trip.

Perhaps the world can be divided into the planners and the doers. The planners step themselves through the process hypothetically. They devise a logical order and they consider what options are available. In this way, they have a 'road map' of sorts, irrespective of the task at hand. The task could be as simple as a piece of writing or it could be as mammoth as a wedding. In setting themselves up with a plan, they ensure greater predictability of the desired outcome.

In contrast, the doers are willing to take a chance, run a risk or leave all in the lap of the gods when it comes to outcomes. They throw caution to the wind and leap in with both eyes shut. I have no statistics to support this assertion, but my gut reaction is that these doers have the potential to be equally as successful in achieving a positive outcome. It might not be THE outcome (as defined by a planner type), but it is an outcome which has been reached by a more passionate, impulsive and, dare I say it, instinctive pathway.

So, which are you? If you answer 'yes' to the following, you are definitely a planner rather than a doer:

* do you have a GPS installed in your car?
* when you go to the supermarket, do you have a list?
* prior to your last road trip, did you consult Google maps?
* do you have a calendar which lists all of your family and friends' birthdays?
* if you had to write a letter of complaint or an essay, would you start by listing dot points?
* before a social occasion, do you mentally prepare possible conversation starters?
* when cooking from a recipe, do you take out all required ingredients prior to beginning?
* do you have a cupboard in your home with gifts on hand for as yet unspecified recipients?
* could you tell me what you will be doing in two weeks' time on Saturday morning?

Okay, which are you? Don't be embarrassed! We can't all be the same and who's to say whether it's better to be a planner or a doer. Maybe the results of the test my students sat today will provide me with further insight. Then again, maybe not...

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