Adapt over Plan

Your plan won’t survive first contact with users.

Planning is valuable — it forces you to think through possibilities. But the plan itself is disposable. The best PMs hold plans loosely and adapt quickly.

What This Means in Practice

• Plan in hypotheses, not certainties
• Build in decision points to reassess
• Celebrate pivots when evidence supports them
• Keep plans simple enough to be adaptable

The Anti-Pattern

You’re violating this pillar when you:

• Stick to the roadmap despite contrary evidence
• Treat plans as commitments instead of guesses
• Feel like pivoting means failure
• Spend more time planning than executing

The Mantra

“In preparing for battle I have always found that plans are useless, but planning is indispensable.” — Dwight D. Eisenhower

Plan to learn. Adapt to win.