Assumption-Based Planning: A Tool for Reducing Avoidable Surprises (RAND Studies in Policy Analysis)

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The second intended audience is practicing planners, who, I realize, are more interested in just the "how" of planning. The book is set up to address three levels of potential interest on the part of practicing planners.

At the second level of interest, a planner might wish to apply ABP but would need to know more about it. Chapters 2 through 7

At the first level of interest, a planner might wonder whether ABP would be useful for a particular planning problem.

Assumption-Based Planning is a planning tool that is primarily useful for improving the robustness and adaptability of existing plans.

Assumption-Based Planning (ABP) is a tool designed for improving the robustness and adaptability of plans-for reducing the number of avoidable surprises in any plan or planning. It is primarily a "post-planning" tool (recognizing that planning is an iterative process) that concentrates on the assumptions in an already-developed plan that

At the third level of interest, a planner would be applying ABP and running into practical problems.

is also useful as a part of any planning methodology-a topic taken up in Chapter 9.