Editing Planning (section)

{{Use American English|date=January 2024}}
{{short description|Regarding the activities required to achieve a desired goal}}
{{Redirect|Forethought|the defunct software company|Forethought, Inc.}}
{{About|the concept|urban planning, often referred to as simply "planning"|urban planning|other uses|plan (disambiguation)}}
{{Planning sidebar}}

'''Planning''' is the [[process]] of [[thinking]] regarding the activities required to achieve a desired [[goal]]. Planning is based on foresight, the fundamental capacity for [[mental time travel]]. Some researchers regard the evolution of forethought - the capacity to think ahead - as a prime mover in [[human evolution]].<ref name="pmid17963565">{{cite journal | vauthors = Suddendorf T, Corballis MC | title = The evolution of foresight: What is mental time travel, and is it unique to humans? | journal = The Behavioral and Brain Sciences | volume = 30 | issue = 3 | pages = 299–313; discussion 313–51 | date = June 2007 | pmid = 17963565 | doi = 10.1017/S0140525X07001975 | url = https://espace.library.uq.edu.au/view/UQ:135952/Suddendorf-04122006.pdf | quote = We maintain that the emergence of mental time travel in evolution was a crucial step toward our current success. }}</ref>
Planning is a fundamental property of intelligent behavior.{{cn|date=January 2024}} It involves the use of logic and imagination to visualize not only a desired result, but the steps necessary to achieve that result.

An important aspect of planning is its relationship to [[forecasting]]. Forecasting aims to predict what the future will look like, while planning imagines what the future could look like.

Planning according to established principles - most notably since the early-20th century<ref>
{{cite book
 |last1                = Friedman
 |first1               = Elisha M.
 |date                 = 6 July 2017
 |orig-date            = 1933
 |title                = Russia in Transition: A Business Man's Appraisal
 |url                  = https://books.google.com/books?id=VEcrDwAAQBAJ

 |series               = RLE: Early Western Responses to Soviet Russia 
 |edition              = reprint
 |publication-place    = Abingdon
 |publisher            = Taylor & Francis
 |page                 = 61
 |isbn                 = 9781351618625
 |access-date          = 27 January 2024
 |quote                = One of the cardinal doctrines of the Marxian system is the necessity for planning. [...] Lenin  was the genius back of the Soviets' ideas of a planned economy.
}} 
</ref> -
forms a core part of many [[professional]] occupations, particularly in fields such as [[management]] and [[business]]. Once people have developed a plan, they can measure and assess [[progress]], [[efficiency]] and [[effectiveness]]. As circumstances change, plans may need to be modified or even abandoned.

In light of the popularity of the concept of planning, some adherents of the idea advocate planning for unplannable eventualities.<ref>
{{cite book
 |last1                = Read
 |first1               = Steven R.
 |year                 = 1990
 |title                = Planning for the Unplannable: Branches, Sequels and Reserves
 |url                  = https://books.google.com/books?id=Rwm2HAAACAAJ
 |publisher            = School of Advanced Military Studies, U.S. Army Command and General Staff College
 |access-date          = 27 January 2024
}} 
</ref><ref>
{{cite book
 |last1                = Coffey
 |first1               = William R.
 |date                 = 10 March 2011
 |title                = Industrial Emergency Planning: Planning for the Unplannable
 |url                  = https://books.google.com/books?id=UDSrPQAACAAJ

 |publisher            = John Wiley & Sons, Incorporated
 |isbn                 = 9780470053669
 |access-date          = 27 January 2024
}} 
</ref>