A Roadmap, Not a Wish
A goal without a plan is just a wish. A development plan is what turns that wish into an actionable roadmap, providing a structured way to aim for and achieve long-term career objectives. Whether the target is a promotion, mastery of a specific technology, or founding a company, the plan lays out the route. The key is choosing a goal that is ambitious but not so distant that you cannot define the intermediate steps to get there. If you cannot define those steps, consult a mentor or recalibrate to a goal along a path you can chart.
The AWARE development plan is an iterative process for navigating this journey. It emphasizes individual ownership and accountability. Instead of waiting for directives, you become the driver, actively seeking opportunities and understanding what it truly takes to reach your goal. This approach provides a clear answer to the recurring “What’s next?” question and gives you a significant degree of control over the pace of your own growth.
From Long-Term Vision to Near-Term Action
The strength of the AWARE process lies in breaking down a large, long-term aspiration into smaller, actionable steps, followed by structured reflection on those steps to confirm you are on the right track. The process starts by visualizing the end state: the long-term Aim. From there, you work backwards to define the achievements required to reach that outcome.
A useful way to think of this is to look at the goals you set for yourself along the way as reference points on a roadmap. Short- and medium-term aims serve as regular checkpoints, ensuring you are still on course. If you miss one, it's an early warning signal that allows you to course-correct before a small detour becomes a major delay.
Those reference points are often not immediately actionable either. For example, a long-term goal might be to start a software company. That is too large to accomplish in one step. Working back from that, you might define a medium-term aim like “learn how to onboard new developers promptly.” That is clearer, but still too broad for a single task. Breaking that down further, you might set a goal to mentor an intern during the next term. Now you have a time-boxed aim with clear objectives that can be put into action.
AWARE: The Five Steps
The name AWARE is an acronym for the five phases of the cycle: Aim, Work Back, Achieve, Reflect, and Encore.
Aim
This stage is about writing down the goal. A well-formed aim needs to be time-boxed, have a clear definition of success, and include specific, measurable objectives. Without these constraints, it is just an idea.
Work Back
Ask if the current aim can be executed immediately. If not, break it down into smaller, more immediate aims that will lead to it. Each of these derived aims should also have clear objectives, be measurable, and be time-boxed. A large goal is seldom achieved by a single action, so identify the chain of smaller aims that form the path.
Achieve
Once a clear, time-boxed aim with measurable success criteria is defined, this is simply the execution phase—achieving the aim.
Reflect
After completing an aim, it is essential to pause and review. Did the completed work provide the expected value? What was learned in the process? Did this step reveal new aims that should be added to the development plan? What would be done differently next time? This reflection is critical for growth and keeping the plan relevant.
Encore
Reflection sets the stage for the next act. The process repeats: use the insights from the previous steps to form a new aim and continue the journey towards the long-term goal. You will likely discover that not all the needed sub-goals are apparent at the start. That is fine. Take it step-by-step, execute on what you know, and append the plan as you reflect and learn.
Putting the Plan into Action
Once the first aim is defined, share it. Whether it is with your manager, lead, or a trusted colleague, communicating your goals makes others your partners. There are two direct benefits to this: first, colleagues can surface opportunities that align with your stated goals. Second, you will begin to see avenues for growth that were not initially obvious. Sharing turns an individual efforts into a collaborative push, often accelerating your progress.
The most important step is to document the plan. Writing it down forces critical thinking and makes the commitment tangible. Employees are encouraged to draft their own plan and discuss it with their manager to get feedback and identify opportunities for growth within the current role. The same process also helps managers work with team members who are struggling to chart their own path, offering a concrete structure for coaching and mentoring conversations.
Putting the Plan Into Practice
When team members join, David Ward provides them with his development plan template and asks them to write out their long-term goals, time-boxed to at most five years. That horizon is far enough to be meaningful but close enough that a realistic plan can take shape. From that long-term goal, the pair works backward to identify shorter-term aims—usually over the next one or two years—that move the person closer to that destination. This work can be done together, but the team member is encouraged to drive the plan as much as possible, bringing their own thinking and ideas to the table.
Defining the Aim
To help shape an aim, Ward suggests asking questions like:
- What does success look like for you in these time frames?
- What do we need to do to achieve this aim?
- How will we know if we’ve achieved this aim?
- What opportunities are available today to start progressing towards this aim?
- How does some of the current work you’re doing tie into this aim?
Working Back From What's Possible
Once an aim is defined, the next question is whether it can be achieved now. If yes, move straight to execution. If not, the situation is one of two cases: either the team member and their lead agree they’re ready but no opportunity is available, or the aim isn't achievable at this precise moment. In the second case, work back from the aim to find related aims that sit along the same path. For example, an aim might require a certain degree or set of experiences that the person doesn't yet have. Keep working back until you reach aims that are achievable, and document all of them so they can be pursued in due time.
Achieving the Aim
When you have an aim you can execute now—one with clear objectives and measurable success—do it.
The Value of Reflection
After completing an aim, take time to reflect. It's the step most people skip because they don't see the immediate value, but it's the most important one. Ask yourself:
- What did we learn?
- Did we get what we thought we would out of it?
- What would we do differently next time?
- What new aims should we add to our plan based on what we know now?
There may be a follow-up aim you didn't know about when you started. Or you may have learned something that makes you want to pivot your aim or even your long-term goal. This is the moment to get feedback and course-correct if you need or want to detour. Think of it like driving: if you're not paying attention to your surroundings or checking your route, you're far more likely to get lost. So check in on your surroundings when an aim is complete. Are you still on course? Did you take a wrong turn? Is there another route available now?
Keeping the Plan Alive
A development plan needs maintenance after creation. Aims change and opportunities arise, and the plan must adjust. Ward and his team check in on their plans during weekly one-on-ones, asking:
- If an aim has been completed, what's the next aim that you will work on?
- What opportunities have come up, and how do they tie into your plan?
- Is there something in another task that came up that contributes to an aim?
- Are we still on track to reach our aims in the timeframe we set?
- Did we complete an aim? Let's make sure we reflect.
If the answer is yes to any of these, call it out explicitly. Learning opportunities are magnified when you're intentional about them.
The Path Doesn't Have to Be Complicated
The path to success is often described as a complex, winding ride:
But it doesn't have to be that complicated. Get a mentor, get some directions, and form a plan. Make sure the plan iterates towards your goal and has signposts along the way so you can check in and know you're on track. If you miss a turn, it's no big deal—it will happen. The difference is that you'll know sooner that you're off track and be able to course-correct earlier. At the end of the day, your path to success may look like this:
If you haven't already: sit down with your lead or manager, write a plan, figure out what's needed to reach your long-term goal, and start iterating towards it.
