Plan to Schedule, Schedule to Plan

The husband and wife syllogism of planning and scheduling is a good analogy. It was an ideal and fundamental point of view of interdependence. Planning and scheduling are from a single fabric. They are very much connected. We plan to schedule, we schedule to plan. Nobody could deny or ignore this deep-rooted relationship (Frago, P50 Risk-based Baseline Schedule, 2014).

Every time someone talks about a plan, he will have to talk about the schedule, for what is a plan without thinking about the schedule? The plan is the schedule's shadow and vice versa. There is no going around it if one is serious about his objectives. It is like Mutt and Jeff, Batman and Robin, one and zero, plus and minus, where each one provides better appreciation of the other. The concept applies to all aspects of life's undertakings.

It is difficult not to frown when anyone say, "Focus on planning. Forget about scheduling. All you need is to be a good planner."

Say your water heater at home has just crossed its twelve-year usage. You and your wife reflected on it, studied your budget and after looking at the equipment maintenance history, concluded that it needs replacement. After looking up how much it cost, both of you agreed to replace it next year. In the meantime, you also plan to save enough money pay for the equipment and its installation.

The question of timing follows right away in cascading level of details to answer the question when. From the plan, the purchase and installation can be set for August next year. It can be the first Monday of August next year, or August 10 (10 am to 12 pm) next year. A scheduled monthly saving of CAD 200 must be put in place such that the amount by August next year is more than enough to pay for the water heater installation cost.

You now have a plan and a schedule. Just imagine planning something without a schedule to execute. Is it not an exercise in futility? Attaining an objective becomes improbable if not impossible.