In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements in EMGT 305 – Educational Planning and

Physical Management

Reflection Paper on The Pony Express

Submitted by:

Ma. Theresa F. Alano

Submitted to:

Dr. Isaias A. Banaag

September 28, 2019

Introduction
Strategic Planning is a systematic process of envisioning a desired future, and translating
this vision into broadly defined goals or objectives and a sequence of steps to achieve them.
In contrast to long-term planning (which begins with the current status and lays down a path to
meet estimated future needs), strategic planning begins with the desired-end and works backward
to the current status.
It includes examining the strengths, weakness, threats and opportunities of the
organization and situations at hand in order to move it to where you want it to be.

Summary
The Pony Express was a fast mail service which became the West’s most direct means
of east-west communication before the telegraph. It was founded by William H. Russel, Alexander
Majors, and William B. Waddel. It ran between Missouri and California. Using the Pony Express,
mail could arrive in California in as few as 9 days rather than the weeks it took to arrive when sent
by horse carriage.
The Pony Express used a planned out route with a number of stations along the way.
Riders would carry the mail from station to station, switching to fresh horses at each station. Every
hundred or so miles the rider would be replaced. This allowed the mail to be constantly moving at
a good speed.
In 1861, the Board of Directors of the Pony Express calls a strategic planning meeting
because of the envy of the modern world and rumors of problems and most especially of growing
competitions. They had brainstormed and come up with the idea of “Excellence in Delivering the
Mail”. Examining their SWOTs, they generated all possible ideas and then decided to restructure.
They generated a restructuring plan which included (1) the immediate addition of services to New
York and Boston (2) more riders and support staff (3) mandatory attendance at a highly
recognized quality seminar (4) improved whips (5) more frequent departures (6) more options to
clients (7) incentive bonuses to workers for higher productivity and (8) the new banner “Unlimited
Pony Service (UPS).
The Pony Express was forced to close after the opening of the transcontinental telegraph,
Pacific Telegraph Company. Telegraphs could be sent much faster and with less expense. In the
end, the business venture that was the Pony Express lost a lot of money and became outdated
fairly quickly.
Reflection

Simply put, strategic planning determines exactly where your organization is going over
the next few years and how it's going to get there. A strategic plan is a coordinated and systematic
way to develop a course and direction for your company.
Basically, not having a strategic plan is akin to navigating unknown territory without a map.
And without a map, you're lost in a highly competitive business environment that will inevitably
throw challenges your way. A rule of thumb is that if there's uncertainty on the horizon, then you
need a strategic plan.
The Pony Express’ restructuring was well-intended but the planners assumed that all had
to be done was to make the operation work better and people work harder. They failed to consider
new realities and opportunities so they couldn’t generate fresh goals and objectives.
R. Kaufman and J. Herman (1991) enumerated few lessons that can be learned from this
historic experience: (1) Missions should be related to reality and results, not just to ringing rhetoric;
(2) Working smarter is much better than working harder; (3) Restructuring or change should be
based upon the realities of the future, not just the facts of the past; (4) No amount of good
intentions can substitute for useful consequences; (5) Create the future you want, not the one that
already is; (6) Don’t keep riding a failing horse until it drops dead under you.
Despite the existence of a strategic plan, the Pony Express Company failed to put into
consideration the existence of a highly competitive environment and fails to account for the
changed realities of the world, which back then is the emerging technology of telegraphs. They
focused on their ancient ways of delivering mails and did not explore on other options and
opportunities to improve their process.
As an educational leader, it is therefore important to take note that strategic planning
should always focus on the results and the performance outputs. This can be done by preparing
objectives in terms of results not only of means. If the objectives set are clear and result-oriented,
it will clearly guide us where to go and we’ll be able to know when we have arrived at our set
objectives.
In developing an educational plan, it is also very vital to include all partners or
stakeholders. They should be able to provide inputs in order to develop the sense of ownership
and there won’t be any barriers in accepting and implementing the plan since all are contributors
to it.
There are also instances that perceptions of the planning partners may also be dangerous
especially if it is not anchored on the performance realities. These performance realities include
the realities of future trends, opportunities and consequences. Just like what happened in the
Pony Express, they failed to look into the reality and future and even present trend at that time.
They still stick to their ideals of delivering mail which they perceived is the fastest way to do so.
Lastly, it should be pro-active rather than reactive. Proactive planning involves designing
a desired future and then inventing ways to create that future state. Not only is the future a
preferred state, but the organization can actively control the outcome. Planners actively shape
the future, rather than just trying to get ahead of events outside of their control. The predicted
changes of the proactive planner are seen not as absolute constraints, but as obstacles that can
be addressed and overcome.