Was the problem in the plan or how it was carried out?
When an attempt fails, ask two questions before deciding what to change. Could the planned method have produced the result? Did you actually carry out that method?
These are different questions. A sound plan may have been badly followed. A flawed plan may have been followed carefully. The disappointing result alone cannot tell you which happened.
A Spark from The Vision
A poor plan or strategy that is perfectly executed is still a failure; and bad execution of an effective strategy still equates to failure.
The same result can have different causes
Two people want a curtain to cover a window. Both finish with a curtain that is too narrow.
The first measured the window correctly and allowed enough fabric. While cutting, they misread the measurement and removed too much. The plan could have worked. It was not the plan they carried out.
The second planned to reuse a pattern from a smaller window without adapting it to this one. They cut exactly along that pattern. The cutting followed the plan, but that plan did not provide enough fabric for the new window.
“Measure more carefully” sounds like reasonable advice for both. But the mistakes were different, so the correction needs to be different too.
| What to check | First curtain | Second curtain |
|---|---|---|
| What the plan allowed | Enough fabric for the window | The old pattern’s width |
| What happened during the work | The written measurement was misread | The old pattern was followed exactly |
| What needs to change | Check the cutting mark against the recorded size | Adapt the pattern to the new window before cutting |
The distinction matters because the wrong correction can preserve the failure. Following the second plan with greater care would produce another curtain that is too narrow. Replacing the first plan would overlook the error that happened while using it.
This is also different from completing work that misses its larger purpose. Here the desired result is clear and unchanged. The immediate question is where the attempt stopped being capable of producing it.
Check what happened before choosing the repair
Put the intended method beside the actual sequence. Use whatever record exists: measurements, instructions, messages or the unfinished work itself. An account of what you meant to do is not yet an account of what happened.
Find the first important difference. If the plan required a check that never happened, ask why it was missed. If every planned step happened, examine whether those steps were enough for the result. The absence of a difference does not prove that the plan was sound.
Some failures contain both problems. The measurements may be incomplete and the cutting careless. A plan can also be difficult to follow because its instructions are unclear or it requires time nobody has. Planning and carrying out the work meet in real conditions; they cannot always be separated into one person’s fault and another person’s fault.
And sometimes the evidence is missing. You may not know what was measured or which instruction was used. In that case, keep the cause open. Record the relevant steps in the next small attempt instead of turning a guess into the reason for a large change.
The next curtain needs more than renewed determination. One attempt needs a pattern adapted to the new window. The other needs a check before the scissors close.
Related lessons
AI-generated from Innocent Mwatsikesimbe's writing.
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