Planning

I know that no business plan survives contact with the customer, just as  no battle plan survives contact with the enemy.  I still love planning, though.  There's something about getting ideas out of my head and onto paper or screen that frees up thought cycles.  Once I've written down the basics, I go back with the fine grit sandpaper to dive in and smooth things out.  I've also found that that writing things down triggers side ideas; the very act of figuring out how to phrase something will cause me to expand the idea in my head.  As a developer I use lots of software tools, but my favorite planning tool is a yellow legal pad (the "expensive" kind with the really thick back) and I always have one with me.  After a few pages of sketching, scheduling, and calculating I'll put everything into electronic form, but I've found digital to be a great way to capture and distribute, not a great way to create.