No More Resolutions!
Happy New Year everyone! Did you make a new year’s resolution? If you did, have you broken it already? If not, is there any chance you’ll keep it?
I hate to sound cynical but I loath the concept of new year’s resolutions. Yes, the new year is a great time to take stock of things and make plans for the future, but I think too much heft is put into making lofty goals that one is unlikely to reach.
Commitment not Resolution
Instead, I prefer to see the new year as an opportunity to commit to improvement. It is a chance to tweak things that could work better and to clean out clutter, both mental and material. Personally, I am more inclined to “clean” when I’m house bound in the winter than during the traditional “spring cleaning” season.
What does a new year’s commitment look like? It is much less impressive than a sweeping resolution, but much more attainable. I have a friend who is planning to have a “dry” January. She is doing this for herself, believing it will make her feel better. There is no fanfare around this goal, and no unrealistic social events or travel plans that will make it more challenging. Chances are she will see it through.
On my end, I am undertaking the yoga challenge. This involves practicing yoga 50 out of the next 90 days. To meet the challenge I need to take 3.8 yoga classes per week. Since I can easily do three, the challenge is adding the fourth class 10 out of the upcoming 12 weeks.
I tried the challenge last year, and did not make it. I hate to say I failed, for I developed a greater commitment to yoga, became considerably stronger and made yoga a core component of my exercise routine.
Had I made a BOLD resolution to master yoga I don’t believe I would have been as successful as I was. I would likely have moved my practice forward but rather than feel empowered by making such great strides I might well have ended up disheartened.
And Why does this Matter?
There are many parallels to the ambitious resolutions people make and the lofty goals set out in organizational strategic plans. Let’s be frank, a bold, ambitious vision is more impressive than a focused commitment to move forward and improve a specific practice. The vision grabs attention but far too often it is too grand to realize within existing constraints. That is not to say it is impossible to reach it, just improbable.
Wake County School Board just published its draft five year strategic plan. The document contains a lot of feel good rhetoric about changing the way students learn. It also sets an ambitious goal to improve its graduation rate to 95%.
Sounds great. Who would disagree with making high school graduation rates a key priority? No one. Trouble is that last year’s graduation rate was 81%. Is the district really equipped to move this metric 13 points in the next five years? Are there other priorities that need to be highlighted and fixed before announcing this goal?
I think consultants have a responsibility to move organizations away from these grand “resolutions” and move them towards more narrow, but more feasible “commitments”. A consultant is usually engaged to guide the strategic planning process and so has an opportunity to help focus a group towards the reasonable, not the impressive. The result may not grab headlines, but if it makes a difference then what more do you actually want?