pss-plan-space-search

name	pss - Plan Space Search
description	There are always multiple ways to achieve a goal.
output	{"format":"prose"}

Plan Space Search

Overview

There are always multiple ways to achieve a goal. Instead of committing to the first plan that seems workable:

1. Generate diverse plans
2. Evaluate against comprehensive criteria
3. Select the optimal plan

This avoids local optima and premature commitment.

Goal

Generate multiple possible plans to achieve a goal, then search for the one that best satisfies optimization criteria.

Steps

Step 1: Define Goal and Constraints

Clearly state:

• What success looks like
• Hard constraints (must satisfy)
• Soft preferences (want to satisfy)
• Available resources

Output: Planning brief

Step 2: Generate Plan via Forward Planning

Start from current state. What actions lead toward goal? Build sequence to goal.

Output: Forward plan

Step 3: Generate Plan via Backward Planning

Start from goal state. What must happen right before? Work back to current state.

Output: Backward plan

Step 4: Generate Analogical Plans

What similar goals have been achieved? How were they achieved? Adapt those plans.

Output: Analogical plans

Step 5: Generate Radical Alternatives

What's a completely different approach? Challenge assumptions:

• What if we did it in half the time?
• What if we had 10x budget?
• What if we had no budget?
• What if it had to be done by one person?

Output: Alternative plans

Step 6: Validate Constraint Satisfaction

For each plan, check:

• Does it satisfy all hard constraints?
• If not, can it be modified?
• If not modifiable, discard.

Output: Valid plans

Step 7: Estimate Resources

For each valid plan, estimate:

• Time required
• Money required
• People required
• Other resources

Output: Resource estimates

Step 8: Score Each Plan

Score on criteria:

• Achieves goal
• Complete
• Resource efficient
• Time efficient
• Handles uncertainty
• Has fallbacks
• Simple to execute
• Few dependencies
• Exit possible

Output: Scored plans

Step 9: Compare Plans

Create comparison table. Identify which plan wins on which criteria. Look for dominant plan.

Output: Plan comparison

Step 10: Sensitivity Analysis

How robust is the ranking?

• What if time was more important?
• What if resources were scarcer?
• What if uncertainty was higher?

Output: Sensitivity assessment

Step 11: Select and Refine

Select top plan. Can it incorporate strengths from other plans? Refine the plan with details.

Output: Final plan

Step 12: Document Contingencies

For the selected plan:

• What could go wrong?
• What are the triggers for Plan B?
• What parts of rejected plans serve as fallbacks?

Output: Contingency documentation

When to Use

• Planning a project
• Strategy development
• Resource allocation decisions
• Route/path finding
• Any situation with multiple approaches

Verification

• Multiple plan generation methods used
• Plans satisfy hard constraints
• Resource estimates are realistic
• Scoring is consistent
• Sensitivity analysis performed
• Contingencies documented