By Skye Hortin
Planning. it’s the one thing that many of us-me included-aren’t very good at. But it’s a skill that can be mastered and practiced. At the same time, it’s not for everyone. Some like me succeed without making a master plan and being spontaneous throughout the day. But every once in a while, you have to have a plan.
But we humans have a shining example that we can learn from-Team Rocket. For those of you not in the know, Team Rocket are the titular villains of the Pokémon animation series and have been causing mischief for 25 years. But as childhood cartoon villains do, they have failed and still have to yet to succeed in any of their plots-due entirely to bad planning. Here is what we in in the real world can learn from their examples and what to do differently.
1. Baby Steps
Read any planning guide and the most common advice they’ll usually give you is to break your larger goal into smaller bite-sized steps that you can accomplish in a day or a week until you achieve what you set for yourself.
Team Rocket has not mastered this at all. In the episode “”, our villains stage a robbery that would make any burglar proud. They plan measurable objectives like a pro planner and carry them out perfectly. Targeting an unguarded aroma therapy business, they sweep in through a window, catching the protagonists completely off guard. They come equipped with haze, filtration masks, and bags for snatching the therapy bottles.
Our villains planned how to get in, but not what to do once they got inside nor did they spend much time planning their getaway. Distracted and disorganized, they lose half the loot before they can flee the premises. Barricading themselves in a wood cabin (not the best thing to hide in) it doesn’t take much brain power for Ash and company to track them down, recover the stolen goods, and send them flying off into the sky to eventually cause trouble in another episode.
Without putting plans into manageable steps, few goals are ever achieved. When you plan next, make sure to split it into manageable steps, or end up like Team Rocket with no loot.
2. Premises
Planning always comes with a chance that it will fail. Good plans take this into account and include provisions to deal with it, even though they can sometimes be unknown. In “Keeping in Top Forme,” Jesse, James, and Meowth spot a rare Pokémon (a Shaymin) and decide to engage one of the most lucrative activities in the Pokemon world; poaching.
Shaymin spots a nearby human named Marley and latches onto her, begging for protection. Marley obliges, proving herself to be a capable trainer and defeats them easily. Does Team Rocket change up their plan, adding extra provisions to deal with this unexpected intrusion? They don’t enable Shaymin, again with Marley’s help, to escape their clutches.
When circumstances arise (and they will) adapting plans will ensure they have a greater chance of succeeding.
3. Execution
When you have a plan, executing it and making sure all the details are done is essential to ensuring that the plan will work. In “The Awful Arbotank,” Team Rocket purchases a machine that will guarantee a clean getaway. The only obstacle left is to grab their target (Pikachu), jump into the machine and flee the crime scene. They even find that Ash, Pikachu, and company are fast asleep.
Meowth points up if they roll up in their tank, they will wake everybody up. They decide to sneak out of the tank and nab Pikachu before rolling off into the sunset. James forgets a crucial detail, neglecting to close and lock the hatch. Two Pokémon, Misty’s Togepi and a wild Sentret roll into the tank by accident and hijack it, going on a wild joyride before the tank is destroyed in a massive explosion.
Not taking care of the important details in a plan will guarantee failure as Team Rocket was left without their tank-and Pikachu.
4. Following Up
When a plan actually succeeds, a crucial phase is what is called follow up. That is when you monitor the plan and when you see it succeeding, taking additional, often unplanned actions to make sure all the objectives are met. In “The Wayward Wobbuffet”, Team Rocket actually manage to get Pikachu and lock it in an electric-proof box.
Then they make a clean getaway, leading Ash and company through the forest. Handing it off to said Wobbuffet, Ash continues to chase them even though Jesse, James, and Meowth no longer have Pikachu. Did they station another Pokémon to help with the getaway, a follow-up action they could’ve enacted during the chase? No, they did not.
Ash, Misty, and Brock swiftly realize that Pikachu is no longer with the main group, spot Wobbuffet who leads, due largely to circumstances out of his control, leads all of them on a wild-goose chase through the forest and into a nearby town. In the end, Ash gets Pikachu back, because Team Rocket failed to do follow-up when their plan was succeeding.
5. In Hindsight
Learning from failed plans and mistakes is critical to making sure future plans succeed. What part of the plan didn’t work? Was it related to my planning or something else? Some plans will eventually fail. It’s a fact of life, as villain Lord Voldemort once said, “I have been careless, and so have been thwarted by luck and chance, those wreckers of all but the best-laid plans.”
In the Season 5 episode “Dues and Don’ts”, Team Rocket has a moment of retrospect when they dress up as American football players and employ a football packed with explosives (it’s a cartoon, so they can survive anything). Pikachu immobilizes them before they can fulfill their plan and send them off into the sky via their own football. When they land, James, Jesse, and Meowth realize that something is wrong and call a meeting to discuss their recent failures.
Two results come as a result of their meeting; they are outnumbered in Pokémon (16-5), knowledge (Brock and Misty are Gym Leaders, the equivalent of coaches in our world), and the methods they employ in their plans are poor. To make matters worse, they meet a recruiting agent who informs them that Team Rocket has revoked their membership.
She does offer them a shot at redemption, lending them an extra Pokémon and telling them to showcase their skills. An insightful response might be to change targets, change up planning methods, do more research and try to narrow the gap. Our former villains fail to learn anything from their meeting. They go straight for Ash and Pikachu again, doing better in battle but still meeting the same fate.