People like to make and talk about plans for things they want to do. That's great - planning is always helpful - but it's easy to slip from strategizing into shopping. I recently watched a certain political event, and I noticed a theme of promising things that would require all sorts of extra revenue to implement. (Of course, the other party has been guilty of this too.) How are they going to pay for that? I have no idea.
The FTC team I am mentoring is currently trying to put together a plan, but they keep slipping into lists of features (some of which will be exceedingly difficult if not impossible to implement along with other important features), completely ignoring the reality that somebody has to figure out how to make it work. Lots of things that look easy when part of a ten-point "plan" will turn out unexpectedly thorny in practice. Make a plan, not a shopping list.
Delivering feel-good speeches about miraculous government programs and writing about all the amazing things a robot will do might appease constituents and impress coaches, but you will be in serious trouble if you try to carry out the cardboard-mockup plan before the details are figured out.
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