Much of our professional practice is underpinned by the cycle of planning. Most research projects require a plan to be set during the funding application process, which establishes expectations for colleagues working on the project that reports on milestones and deliverables at particular stages are clearly communicated to all research stakeholders. We all know that planning has many benefits. The process of planning helps us to set objectives, which for many of us increases the likelihood that things will be completed, making a final outcome (a published paper, a presentation, thesis or report) more likely. Another key benefit delivered by the process of planning is that it compels us to set a course of action to achieve the objectives that we set. Ideally, from time to time during the process, we should make sure that we are on track to deliver. In academia we are encouraged to network, which allows us to share our knowledge and learn the languages needed to clearly communicate our work to others. Universities across the globe encourage partnerships with other universities, industry, the non-profit sector and the governments who fund our work. To deliver the large-scale and long-term projects needed to deliver cutting-edge science, researchers work within the networks that they have established. To deliver the largest projects we must form and maintain working relationships with other academics and practitioners. In this way we can deliver results in a way that provides cutting-edge science while meeting the needs of project stakeholders. For example, the research work that we do can help our research partners to solve a problem, improve their processes, or through discovery can uncover new technolo-gies and ways of practising.