I spent a couple of days working in a shearing shed recently, as a helper not a shearer I hasten to add. At first sight the contrast between shearing sheep and my day-job of facilitating learning could hardly be greater.

The lesson of the 5 P’s, ‘Poor Planning Provides Poor Performance’ often resounds around training rooms. It’s not surprising that the importance of effective planning (understanding the context, clarifying the aims and objectives, considering and evaluating alternative approaches, monitoring progress against plans, re-planning etc.) comes to the fore, but as facilitators of learning should we also construct and follow plans?