A successful plan requires a thorough understanding of the problem, a solid theoretical engagement, evaluation of existing models, and rigorous fieldwork. Cost is a primary limiting factor, and proposals should be narrow in scope, ideally starting with a $30,000 budget. The plan should focus on a well-defined first phase, allowing for detailed preparation and connections to theoretical frameworks and identified problems.

1. The Plan

2. What makes a good Plan?
• A thoroughly researched Problem/Introduction--if there's
nothing wrong in the first place, why come up with a Plan to
solve it?
• A solid engagement with Theoretical Frameworks--if you
don't know the bigger reasons behind how and why experts
tried to solve this Problem, why would anyone listen to you?
• A detailed evaluation of concrete Models of Success--if you
are going to be proposing something, you'll need to see how
your own ideas stack up against what is already out there.
• Rigorous fieldwork (this applies to both Problem and
Paradigm): you can't find everything you need to know
online or in scholarly journals--there are people on the
ground who have invaluable knowledge about your subject,
and your project will not be complete without that
knowledge.

3. Cost
• There are several limiting factors to your Plan, and cost is
the most significant.
• This type of proposal is designed to be narrow in scope and
low-cost--everything you propose must be justified by
research and fieldwork.
• Think of $30,000 as your limit, unless you have some very
good research with Models of Success and funding that
makes it seem like you could actually raise more money.
• By starting small, you can always grow later on if your
project works.

4. Year Zero
• A good way to limit the scope of your Plan but also allow
room for future possibilities is to think in terms of phases.
• Your proposal is aimed at Year Zero or Phase One. This is
the stage of the Plan that should be the most thoroughly
described, with step-by-step procedures for getting it off of
the ground.
• In other words, if I gave you the money tomorrow, you
should be able to start spending it to begin your project
immediately.
• Leave bigger thoughts to future stages, which you may
include in your Plan, but make sure that you give the most
detail on how you will get started in that first stage.

5. Connections - Paradigm
• A good Plan is clearly connected back to both the Theoretical
Frameworks and Models of Success presented in the Lit Review.

6. Connections - Problem
• A good Plan is clearly connected back to the various
aspects of the Problem presented in the Introduction.
• When you first wrote your Introduction, you may not have
known where to situate the Problem. By the time you are
working on the Plan, you have all your specifics, so you can
go back and make the end of your Introduction much more
specific.
• There is a back-and-forth movement between all the
different parts of your proposal, a "feedback loop" whereby
each new part helps you to revise and improve every old
part.
• See the following slides and videos posted below this
presentation for an example.

7. "Backing up the Plan"
• Problem: Pharmacy Errors in NJ Hospitals
•