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Masterplans Are Inflexible
Leadership / Principles
Grand plans look great on paper but fail in reality.
The Problem with Masterplans
- They assume you can predict the future.
- They ignore the people who will live with the results.
- They're too rigid to adapt when things change.
- They optimise for the plan, not for the outcome.
In Engineering
- Waterfall is a masterplan. It assumes you can define everything upfront.
- Big-bang rewrites are masterplans. They bet everything on one delivery.
- Multi-year roadmaps with fixed scope are masterplans. Reality will diverge.
What Works Instead
- Small, iterative steps with feedback loops.
- Direction over destination. Know where you're heading, but adapt the path.
- Involve the community. The people doing the work know things you don't.
- Human scale. Can a team understand and own this? If not, it's too big.
The Rule
Plan enough to start. Learn from doing. Adjust as you go.
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