Even the Best Laid Plans…

This weekend we took my kitten for a play date. You can say what you will, my sister already laughed at this, but we did it for a couple of reasons. For one, the kittens she went to “play” with were her brothers and secondly, she’s in a nipping, scratching phase that we thought could be helped if she got bit by another of her kind. In short, we wanted one of her brothers to put her back in line. Even the vet thought it was a good idea.

Turns out, it wasn’t. Our little Moxie apparently isn’t a fan of socializing. At least not with two boys each about twice the size of her (she was the runt of the litter). She reacted by turning on the defense mechanisms, an age old reaction that has helped smaller species survive for centuries. She spent the majority of the night growling (literally growling) and hissing at anyone who came her way, including me. She also bared claws and we all thought for a second that she was going to maul our friend. This certainly is not her normal behavior. As soon as we removed her from the situation, she was back to her old self. It worries me that this means she can’t be around other people, but we’re thinking the two big male cats in a home not her own was just too much stress. We’re on the fence about trying it again. On one side, she’ll probably warm up eventually on the other, she may cause too much harm in the interim.

Even the best laid plans can go awry, even if you have the best of intentions. At DDA we make plans too. We create elaborate wire diagrams to show how a comprehensive eLearning portal will be developed or a visual storyboard for video production. Search engine marketing (SEM) techniques and search engine optimized content development also require a lot of planning, including keyword research, competitive intelligence, and usability analysis. Menus and content plans help set the stage for website design and development and a step-by-step breakdown for all programming work helps to determine the logic and a plan for development.

I’m happy to say that after we spend so much time formulating these plans, it doesn’t usually result in our clients growling, hissing, or trying to bite us. Quite the opposite. They see the progress at each stage and have already reviewed and approved the plan before we moved forward, so there are no surprises and they are certainly not intimidated, so no  natural defense mechanisms are needed.

At least, with our portfolios and unsolicited comments from clients, we can prove that sometimes a plan does come together.