"Yes Virginia, even Santa has a project plan"

I was getting ready to leave for the day when I saw one of the PMs, Virginia getting ready to leave. I asked if her project plan was ready for review. She looked at me and replied, "I don't need a plan".

Obviously this was not the answer I wanted. But before I told her she had to do one I decided to play along a bit and asked some questions. "Okay, so what happens if the vendor is late with the software?" "How are you going to test the solution?" "What types of communication have to be done?"

Virginia stared at me and said "The team will figure it out as we go.  If everything goes right we shouldn't have any issues."

I then asked, "But what if everything doesn't go right?. How will you handle those unexpected items?"

Virginia snapped back, "If they are unexpected, we can't plan for them anyway. For Pete's sake Terry it's not like Santa Claus has a plan."

"Virginia", I said, " I can guarantee you that Santa has a superb project plan."

Virginia rolled her eyes and scoffed, "No way!"

My reply was simple. "Yes  Virginia, Santa has a project plan. To prove it, consider the following:" 

 "Santa has a project plan that details all of the steps needed to get ready for Christmas. It covers the number of toys he needs, getting the sleigh set up, setting up his route for the night, notifying the various countries of his flight path,  and where he will take rest stops. Have you ever seen Reindeer droppings on a roof? Of course not because he plans where to stop."

"Santa has a project schedule. It sets out when the toys will be done, what time he wants to take off, what time he arrives in each country, and what time he will return to the North Pole."

 "Santa has a resource plan. How else can you control hundreds of elves without roles and responsibilities defined?"

 "Santa has a communications plan. The naughty and nice list tells him information he needs. The FAA and local authorities know when he is coming through their area."

"Santa has a contingency plan. He has alternate plans and routes to deal with last minute changes, bad weather, broken sleigh runners etc."

Virginia stared at me in disbelief.

"But Virginia, he has to have a plan. He does his work in one night and has never missed a Christmas. Can you tell me that you always deliver on time and have never had a failed project?"

 Virginia answered. "No unfortunately I have had a failed project and yes sometimes I miss schedules." With that answer all Virginia could say now was, "Is it ok if I give you the plan Tuesday?"

And I replied, "It is Christmas, you can have till Wednesday."

Happy Holidays!