Think you're immune to planning pitfalls. Think again.

Think you’re immune to planning pitfalls? Think again.

Even the most seasoned leaders can fall victim to plans, well… that don’t go according to plan.

The planning fallacy bias leads us to underestimate time, costs, and risks associated with plans.

At the same time, we overestimate the benefits and positive outcomes, setting ourselves up for disappointment.

This bias isn’t just about being overly optimistic. It’s about being unrealistically confident in our ability to predict and control the future.

Recognizing this bias in ourselves is the first step toward cultivating awareness and resilience.

By acknowledging our tendency to fall into these planning traps, we can start to chart a more realistic course.

Strategies like breaking big projects into smaller components and setting implementation intentions for each piece can help.

Building buffers into plans to account for the unexpected is also helpful.

The key is to plan realistically, not perfectly, and to approach strategies and plans as fluid, not fixed.

The truth is planning fallacy bias is more prominent than you might think. No one is immune.

How do you manage the optimism that typically fuels planning? Join the conversation—share your thoughts below.