501 Focused

“ If you don’t know where you are going, you will wind up somewhere else. ” - Yogi Berra I’m a map lover. I can get “lost” looking at maps for hours at a time. And if you ask me to be the navigator on a road trip, my heart starts to flutter. GPS has not made it into my household yet, and may not anytime soon, as that would take away my need to look at maps in a more organic way. It’s not always just about the best, most efficient method of getting someplace. It’s sometimes about the side roads that can get you where you want to go and what you might discover along the way. I always find something new when I look at a map, but I also try to scope out the best route for the trip based on my car, the traffic, weather conditions, if I’m travelling alone or with others, and how much time I really have to get there. I think of strategic planning in a similar way. It helps provide a road map of where you need to go and the best ways to get there. Like map-reading -- at least for me -- t...

“I haven't any courage at all. I even scare myself.” - The Cowardly Lion in The Wizard of Oz This post is all about Courage. In my last post, I said we’d talk more about Getting Focused, and I believe courage is a big part of that -- especially when it comes to strategic planning. Wikipedia’s definition of courage is “the ability to confront fear, pain, risk/danger, uncertainty, or intimidation.” Those of us who work in the nonprofit arena see a lot of examples of courage -- from the individuals with the courage to leave abusive situations and seek help from a shelter to those who travel long distances to render aid when disasters strike. Strategic planning also takes a bit of courage, maybe not on that scale, but courage nonetheless. For a group to take on strategic planning, it must be willing to look outside the norms of operation, to confront failures (and possibly risk new ones), to let go of successes if they take the organization off course from its mission, and to fo...