Just-in-Time Planning

I landed an incredibly complicated $400k custom swimming pool design/construction project. It was so enormous, the plans would take months to complete. Everyone else who had been approached to take the job had either quit or vanished. Others advised me to abandon the project.

I turned to JIT planning, or what I think of as the “bare bones” approach, which is just one skill of many I learned in Jean’s Thinking Lab. It saved the job and revealed an important missing step, which I had never expected.

Among other things, I needed to use my “bare bones” method to guide my subcontractors. They were overwhelmed with their pieces of the project, too. I remember seeing their bewildered looks and hearing their skeptical exclamations as they contemplated the job. It was fear in their eyes and in their snorts. It’s funny in hindsight, but that’s because it turned out so well. Once I finished the planning (in about five months), it was easy. We moved rapidly through the construction phase and delivered a gorgeous result to the client.

Jean’s JIT Planning tool is so useful. I use the method in many areas. Hiring, accounting, taxes, directing staff, instructing subcontractors, etc. It helped me identify one of the best methods for business growth. It gave me leadership skills. These days it is totally automatized. That just shows how far I have traveled.

I used “Just-in-Time Planning” on a videogame I’m developing. I found that the key concept from the course of breaking the project down to a base layer was critical to making progress. Once I had a complete, if very basic, proof of concept done, I could identify if I wanted to add-on a new feature or add another layer or change direction. Without that complete basic layer, it would have taken far longer to iterate on my feedback.

I work on a lot of projects without a defined scope or a firm deadline. Just-in-Time Planning allows me to produce meaningful results at regular intervals. In other words, I can plan the work effectively without worrying about how big or small the project ends up becoming. It’s a godsend.

Just-In-Time Planning is a powerful method to add to your intellectual arsenal. As an engineer, I applied its principles to a number of complex work projects prior to my recent retirement. Currently, JIT Planning has enabled me to navigate a complicated relocation to the property I inherited from my dad. My boyfriend and I had just combined our households and then we were faced with moving into a house already filled with my parents’ belongings. Plus it needed some repairs. Using JIT I could envision a prototype version of our moving project that was less daunting to execute. I needed to figure out which repairs at my parents’ house were critical to our moving in and which could wait? Or at a minimum, which rooms needed to be cleared in advance? After answering these questions and taking action, we are now living here happily and comfortably.

We still have a lot of work to do, but seeing results is so motivating. Plus, JIT planning helped ensure that our in-between state is a great state. We prioritized enjoying being here. Over breakfast, we watch deer feeding in the backyard. In the evenings, we walk to the pond and feed the catfish, then watch the bats circling overhead. The cats are all settled into their new routine. We are also exercising and eating well. It was very important to me to make sure these didn’t fall by the wayside in our new circumstances—and so as part of JIT Planning, we built that into the move sooner rather than later.

I use JIT Planning with product development. It helps me identify the essential parts of a project, so I focus on building those instead of getting caught up in details or aspects that aren’t as important. In the past I would get excited about a complicated idea, but now I’m learning to find the core of it—which is usually still really exciting—and turn that into something I can do much more quickly. Using this approach, our company published our first children’s book! I really appreciate having this course to work with.

I have found Just-In-Time Planning to be very helpful. Before I took the JIT planning class, I would get bogged down preparing my research papers. I would start each section by reading research articles that I thought were relevant, only to find out later that I didn’t need to read them at all! JIT planning gave me strategies for planning the project at a much higher level, so I could avoid getting stifled by unnecessary details. It also helped me to bolster my positive motivation and handle any negative motivation. I recommend the course to anyone undertaking a complex project.