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SMART Planning
on March 06, 2013
It has been my great pleasure to work with the planners and leaders of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to develop the foundations of SMART planning which will help transform the Corps Civil Works Program for the 21st century throughout 2012 and 2013.
On February 8, 2012 Major General Michael Walsh, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, issued a memorandum that would transform the way the U.S. government conducted water resource and related land resource planning studies. He identified five imperatives that would change the Corps planning process and corporate culture:
- Reaffirm Federal and Corps interest and role in resolving the problem
- Ensure resources needed are identified and available
- Recognize for most studies, there is no single “best plan”
- Manage appropriate level of detail and acknowledge uncertainty
- Ensure vertical integration throughout the study.
SMART planning is Specific, Measurable, Attainable,
Risk-informed, and Timely. It restores a focus on making good
planning decisions under conditions of uncertainty rather than to
lose one's way doing analysis. Using sharply focused decision
management plans (DMP) and risk registers (RR) to manage the risks
associated with decision making under uncertainty planning proceeds
more quickly and cost effectively with no sacrifice in the quality
of decision making. It has been my pleasure to participate in the
development of this new planning approach from the beginning and to
have developed the format of both the DMP and RR to better
integrate planning and risk management.