Planning to Win – Why It Sometimes Pays to Move Slow

We’ve all heard the sayings:

• “A goal without a plan is just a wish.”
• “Plan your work and work your plan.”
• “By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail.”

I’ve probably spent collective hours – or even days – repeating those mantras in my head. But it hasn’t entirely kept me out of situations that better planning might have prevented. 

There are mornings where I don’t put my alarm across the room or days I convince myself there is no need to schedule that yoga class in advance – and I inevitably find myself feeling sluggish because I didn’t stick to the structure I know I need. 

I have to remind myself of my own tendencies towards this behavior whenever I meet a dentist who has repeatedly tried implementing some new service or feature at their office, only to quickly declare it a disaster when it doesn’t yield immediate results. Because what I want to ask first is: “Well… did you follow the plan?”

That may sound cold – but I have seen it over and over in my own journey. When I neglect the strategy and steps I set forth, the results almost always disappoint. 

We all know the story about the tortoise and the hare. It feels exciting to get started fast because we imagine ourselves winning the race. However, entering a new world – whether that is a personal exercise routine or a new procedure in the chair – is a marathon, not a sprint. There is a lot of pre-work to be done and steps to be taken. And when those things are skipped, you end up like the hare – out of breath and in last place. 

Our culture celebrates the maverick, the rule-breaker, the exception. And those stories are exciting and worth telling. But you know what other stories are worth telling? The ones where a determined practitioner listened to those who came before them, created a plan, and found huge success. 

The temptations to stray from the plan are tempting. 

Life is messy. Business is hard. Corners sometimes must be cut. 

So Try this:

Create a plan accountability team.

Think of it like a mini-boardroom to manage a new service line or way of doing things. 

The idea is to add just enough friction (read: other people’s expertise and opinion) to the process to make it too hard to run away from when it gets challenging. 

Pick two or three people with ties to your office who can help think through the pros, cons, successes, and challenges for this project as they come. And remember – this mini-team will also be your support system! When the work is hard and the results are lackluster, sometimes what you really need is heartfelt encouragement. Enlist folks who have empathy to offer along with their expertise.

When you follow the plan and find success, remember to celebrate. 

“Stick-to-it-tiveness” is a virtue (or at least it should be)!

About the Author

Rio Esqueda is the Chief Operating Officer at Restfull, the leading dental sleep software company. With a Master’s in Healthcare Administration from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, she transitioned from a career in performance arts to healthcare management. Her experience spans multiple industries, including managing systems in different sectors before entering the dental industry through a national Dental Service Organization (DSO) expanding into Kansas City. 

At Restfull, Rio leads a high-performing team focused on developing systems designed to help dentists be both more successful and less stressed. She emphasizes the importance of integrating resources, prioritizing initiatives, and leveraging team-building skills to support Restfull’s emergence as a leader in dental sleep billing software. Her collaborative approach, especially with key leaders like Dr. Mark Murphy and Christie Fink, has been pivotal in driving innovation within the company.