The plan

Whenever a person, group or team goes into a competition or a situation, they must always spend a minimal amount of their operative time planning of what it is they should do. When they plan, they try to think of the best solution(s) to the ongoing crisis or scenario, and must think it through very thoroughly- analyzing the risks associated, and what they expect to achieve. They must also, of course think of a "back up plan" in case everything goes totally the opposite way. For example, a basketball team must either huddle and discuss who will do what, and what they should specifically focus on in the game and who to guard and so forth. A team of firemen must discuss who will go in the house, and who will stay outside to hose down the flames or call for backup if needed. A SWAT team must analyze on where to enter a hostaged-held building, and how they should enter and deal with any threats they encounter. It is obviously much more beneficial to at least come up with some sort of rough plan when doing almost anything, because it'll get you more organized and will make transitions much more easier. If you do not execute any sort of plan effectively and instead wait until the last moment, you may be set up for disaster, as you may not think as rationally, and may end up making bad decisions without analyzing any sort of risks associated. Take for example, the first battle of Vimy Ridge, back in WW1. The Allied forces ( the French, British and other European Allies) tried to capture Vimy Ridge, which was, I believe in France, from the German Forces. The Germans had this place very well-defended because they had placed themselves on top of this hill-like path, which made it easier for them to target anyone coming up with machine gun nests or snipers. So, the Allies went in extremely unprepared, with no plan whatsoever, and ended up with massive amounts of casualties and ultimately, lost the war. A few years later, the Canadian forces, along with other Allied forces decided that it was their time to capture Vimy Ridge. The only difference was, THEY PLANNED ON WHAT TO DO. And since they knew that they were going up a slope, they used this interesting method of guerillia warfare to succeed, where they would dig trenches, and slowly move up, bit by bit until they had captured the German territory.

Now, the Canadians did have quite some casualties, but they still won the war, and were recognized more independently than before. But, one must remember that any plan, good or bad, easy or hard, has its consequences and downfalls. Sure, you can study for an exam for 2 months on a daily basis, do all the review work and ask the teacher all the questions but come exam day, you might feel extremely nervous, and may realize that you have either overstudied, or have not studied your weaker areas. You can prepare yourself for a fight, and train like a monster for 4 months but you may still leave that fight with bruises and cuts, or may be hit over and over, and may be thrown off your gameplan for the majority of the time. These things do happen quite typically, but the most important thing of planning anything is to prepare for the worst scenarios, because then, nothing will seem unexpected.