Planning and Implementation Tug Of War

By Madaraka Katana

Balancing planning and implementation is one of the most significant challenges faced by leaders in community-driven projects. I’ve come to understand this deeply through my personal journey, serving in dual roles as Operations Manager at RegisTree, a community-based waste management and composting enterprise, and Chairperson of Dabaso Youth for Green Future, a youth-led organization focused on environmental action and empowering sustainable livelihoods.

From the outside, planning and implementation may look like two natural stages of a project. One lays the foundation, and the other builds on it. But in reality, these stages often conflict, overlap, or even clash, especially in a grassroots setup where time, support, and resources are thin.

Where the Struggles Begin

Sometimes, the greatest challenge lies in spending so much time planning that implementation never really begins. You draft strategies, create to-do lists, organize meetings, and map out grand visions, but the actual ground action keeps being postponed. This happens when the fear of failure kicks in, or when perfectionism clouds your ability to start.

Other times, the pressure to deliver pushes you to jump straight into implementation without proper collaboration or consultation. You end up executing half-baked ideas that weren’t fully thought through. The result is poor outcomes, confusion, or wasted effort, leading to consequences that could have been avoided with better upfront coordination.

"The imbalance swings both ways: either too much planning with no action, or too little planning leading to chaotic and ineffective implementation."

This tension becomes even more evident when you consider the nature of both phases. Planning requires clarity of mind. It demands time to think strategically, consult, analyze, and imagine the future. Implementation, on the other hand, is fast-paced, reactive, and grounded in reality; it deals with people, logistics, feedback, and the things going wrong or taking longer than expected.

Balancing the two is not just a technical skill; it’s an emotional, psychological, and physical one. There are days I spend hours drafting community engagement strategies, only to jump straight into pit construction work. At RegisTree, I oversee waste collection logistics and project operations, while still expected to submit reports and manage performance. At Dabaso Youth for Green Future, I’m also expected to draft proposals, run activities, evaluate outcomes, motivate members, and ensure organization visibility. Often, it feels like I’m stretched between the drawing board and the ground, and it’s exhausting.

"Many times, I’ve found myself asking: Is it me doing too much? Or are others doing too little? But I think the better question should be: How do we build systems of shared responsibility that ease this burden?"

My story is not unique; many young leaders face similar challenges across Africa and Beyond. What we need to understand is, these challenge is caused by both internal and external factors, and as I have walked the journey, most of the factors include lack of team support, Responsibility overload, Unclear roles and expectations, unrealistic expectations, poor time management, and most importantly, Procrastination and laziness has contributed to the colapse of many organizations and projects.

There are times I know exactly what needs to be done, but I keep postponing. The task feels overwhelming, and delays seem easier than facing it head-on. Over time, well-developed plans turn into forgotten ideas never brought to life. Sometimes I've got myself fine-tuning plans over and over again, held back by the worry of getting it wrong. This delay goes further to affect the project schedules, where important tasks get overshadowed by urgent ones and end up constantly reacting instead of leading.

These internal struggles, most of the time, go unnoticed but can silently derail progress. Recognizing these is the first step to overcoming them, moving from intention to effective execution.

"Even the best strategies can fail if the will to execute isn't strong and the discipline to follow through is lacking"

Leadership comes with wearing many hats. As someone tasked with leading a team, overseeing operations, writing reports, mobilizing youths, running activities, and evaluating outcomes, you end up doing too many things at once, you are trying to plan while busy, and you start taking action without really knowing the full picture, doing everything, and yet achieving very little.

This experience has taught me a lot in understanding that not everything needs to be done at once. Learning to rank tasks based on impact and urgency is crucial. I need to empower my team with clear roles and responsibilities, and build systems that ensure continuity when key individuals are absent. I've learnt that vulnerability is strength. Seeking help is not a sign of failure but a strategy for sustainability. Lately, I've also learnt that rest is part of the process. Fatigue blurs both planning and execution.

Finally,

Balancing planning and implementation isn’t just about leadership efficiency. It’s about impact. Community projects suffer when leaders are stuck in planning mode or rush into half-prepared actions. I’ve seen projects with great potential stall because we never moved past the strategy document. I’ve also seen activities fail because we acted too quickly without laying the groundwork. Both ends of the spectrum are dangerous.

And while it’s easy to blame others, I’ve come to learn that self-awareness, teamwork, and honest conversations can go a long way in finding this balance. As young leaders, we must embrace both strategy and action, not as opposites.

"The challenge of balancing planning and implementation is a daily discipline. Through experience, I’m learning that great leadership isn’t about always getting it right. It’s about noticing when things are off balance and having the courage to reset. Be patient, stay focused, ask for help, and don’t let either planning or action paralyze you. Keep showing up."

                                                                                                                                           "Madaraka"