Recently a CEO told me of taking over an unprofitable corporation. In reviewing the plans he found that they were missing by as much as fifty percent. He suggested to the executive in charge that he had been a poor planner, and the man defended himself by saying, "No, we're good at plans, we're poor at execution."
The three important parts of planning, to me, are:
1) Lifetime direction - our immediate goals should simply be markers on our way to our destination. They tell us that we are making progress toward your ultimate direction which should be clearly in mind. You who have read my undiscovered classic, You and Your Network, know that when I was young I went into a cemetery and sat down on a tombstone and tried to decide what I wanted on mine. What I said then I still say now: "He stretched others." I am always intrigued by the potential of others. How do you want to be remembered? What do you want your legacy to be?
On my study wall are three children's felt footprints surrounded by sand. Our daughter Brenda made this for me. They are footprints of her children when they were small. She knew that I would recognize that it was inspired by Longfellow: "lives of great men all remind us we can make our lives sublime/and departing leave behind us/footprints on the sands of time." Our lifetime direction should be involved with who we are becoming. Sometimes when I ask people, are you in the process of becoming who you want to be? They will say, " No, I'm going to get around to it." They are kidding themselves; they are right now developing who they are going to be. It's just a matter of whether or not they're going to be content with who they are becoming.
2. Philosophy/creed - When Father Hesburgh became President of Notre Dame he was given a creed by the outgoing President, Father Cavanaugh. It is one of the most meaningful I have ever seen. It only had three injunctions: "be right - be human - be humble." When I think of "right" I think of wisdom and truth. Most of the times when I'm wrong it's either my ignorance or my ego. As I thought of what it means to be human I first believe we must have a good understanding of human nature, and I know of no way to understand man without understanding the fall in the garden. Knowing both man's tendency to sin as well as his potential defines what it means to be human.
"Humility is not denying the power that you have but admitting the power comes through you, not from you." The scripture says that the proud look is an abomination. It also tells us to let another's lips praise you, not your own. Down South we used to have an expression, about conceited people: "I'd like to buy him, for what he's worth and sell him for what he thinks he's worth."
From our philosophy we develop our creed, which contains our values. When I was first starting my executive life I listed four things that I would not sacrifice to success: my self-respect, my health, my family, nor my relation with God for success. I don't think that's particularly pious; I think it's just common sense.
Recently I studied a list of major corporations who operated with a credo, and it is interesting that they have a much better profitability record than those which handle situations as they come. The credo lets the whole organization react well to situations.
3) Important Definitions
(a) Core vs Periphery - I'm thinking about what makes up the core of life. For example, the responsibilities, the scriptural obedience, self-respect, family relations, financial independence. Erik Erikson of Harvard, says the problem of old age is managing deterioration. This means keeping the core solid and moving the deteriorating part to the periphery. I think this applies to all times of our life.
(2) "Enough" - how do we define enough? Often more of the same is not satisfying, and yet we keep going for more. It's like drinking salt water. There are several areas of definition, but I would suggest careful definition of "enough" in the areas of recognition, power and money.
(3) Healthy, productive tensions - we read and hear a lot about the damaging effects of stress. Positive tensions in our life can be very helpful. I look for projects and associations that give me healthy tension. Without this I would miss a great deal of the energy in life—in fact, I'd be like a hog in the sunshine. I even find that my memory is much better when I'm under proper tension, and certainly my feeling of being alive has tension in it. Remember what Edison said, "show me a man who is thoroughly satisfied and I'll show you a failure."
(4) My part/God's part - God will not do my work for me. He has already given me the talent, the time, and the opportunity. It would be redundant and the supporting of irresponsibility for Him to do what I should do. And, I have found that I definitely cannot do God's part; so I am particularly interested in trying to differentiate between my part and God's part.
These four points are not your standard goal planning principles. You will never hear me talk about how to organize your day-planner. But if you will seriously consider your life direction, your life creed, your productive use of tension and then clearly define your part I am convinced that you will have a great year. Let me know what you think and how it works.
