When you work in a highly active, slightly chaotic environment, it’s critical that you make a plan every day.
Why?
Work has to get done.
Otherwise …
Strategic Planning
Reacting versus Planning
Two opposite methods can be used to get work done.
You can respond 100% to circumstances and then react accordingly. Answering a ringing phone is an example of responding and reacting.
Or …
You can plan everything 100% and only take action after the plan has been thoroughly designed, tested, and approved. Constructing a building or new piece of machinery are two examples of planned activities.
In the real world, and especially in a world where customers are constantly buying, a balanced approach is necessary. Here’s why.
Strategic
Tom Rath’s book Strengths Finder 2.0revealed my top five strengths. My number three strength is strategic. Strategic people create alternative ways to proceed. They quickly spot relevant patterns and issues when faced with a given scenario.
Just like I am a futurist, I also believe I’m a strategic. I see strategic and futurist in myself as a nice complement. The futurist side is creative – my right brain. The strategic side is logical – my left brain.
From Rath’s book, the strategic person follows this simple three-step process over and over:
- Asks, “What if?”
- Selects from multiple possible paths.
- Strikes down the best logical path.
Front Porch Thoughts
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In my previous post?I wrote, ?It sure is safer if you simply stay seated on the front porch. But, then think about all the living you?d miss.? ?This was a direct reference to Forrest Gump?s run across America. The run started when Forrest (who was deep in thought on the front porch), tired of sitting, stood up, and simply decided to go for a little run.
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In that single moment, everything changed.
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Front porch thoughts are quiet and reflective thoughts. They are thoughts focused on the big picture, the meaning of life, and how life?s thousands of details fit into place like pieces of a jigsaw puzzle.
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Just before he started to run, Forrest was seated on the front porch deep in thought. He probably felt some despair over Jenny leaving him again. He might have been feeling sorry for himself. He no doubt was wondering, what was the purpose of his life?
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From those front porch thoughts, Forrest made a single decision that changed everything. He stood up and started running. The run started to energize him. The run gave him a new purpose. The action of running offered a new perspective that eventually helped him put the past behind him.
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Action is what ultimately makes things change. But the front porch thoughts are where the plan for action originates.
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What are your front porch thoughts telling you what to do with your life?
Are you willing to follow your front porch thoughts and start running toward your goals?
Or, are you going to stand up and walk back into the safety and mediocrity of your house and television show?
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Next Blog Title:? Steve?s Front Porch Thoughts ? Summer 2011
Next Blog Date:? July 28, 2011
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