Planning season

It is time to look ahead to the coming academic year. Graduation is long past. Graduation and dean’s list hometown releases have been sent. It typically feels like once we hit mid-July, we are on a slippery slope going into fall semester. Summer is pretty-much over.

Granted, it is only late June. We do have a couple weeks to prepare, to look up from our daily tasks to make sure we are headed in the right direction. As I began to think about this, the often used quote “Plan your work then work your plan” came to mind.

Wondering where this quote came from I turned to Google. (By the way, this quote is attributed to several different people.) While searching, I found many additional, appropriate quotes:

• "Setting a goal is not the main thing. It is deciding how you will go about achieving it and staying with that plan."
  Coach Tom Landry
• "A good plan is like a road map: it shows the final destination and usually the best way to get there."
  H. Stanley Judd

Those who know me know how frustrated I get by long drawn-out planning sessions; “discussing” ad nauseum minute details only to have the plan stuffed in a file cabinet not to see the light of day until it’s time to do the next year’s plan. I must remember:

• "It's not the plan that is important, it's the planning."
  Graeme Edwards

That said, there are several new initiatives in the works that I’ve been privileged to be part of publicity planning this summer. Such as:

• 25th birthday of The Lion and Lamb Peace Arts Center
• Celebration of Peace children’s conference
• The new 3-year bachelor’s degree program for high achieving students
• Text to give
• New focus for admissions’ Discovery Day visit days - stay tuned
• Bluffton’s Iron Man Andy Chaffee – stay tuned
• Live construction video feed – stay tuned

Thinking about a project is good. Writing down plans is even better. But working the plan- that, my friends, is best.

• "Plans are only good intentions unless they immediately degenerate into hard work.”
  Peter F. Drucker
• "No matter how carefully you plan your goals, they will never be more than pipe dreams unless you pursue them with gusto.”
  W. Clement Stone
• "The world needs dreamers and the world needs doers. But above all, the world needs dreamers who do."
  Sarah Ban Breathnach

I didn’t find a quote to support this final theory, but I will always embrace the concept of “Plan B.” When circumstances change, when the plan doesn’t work as expected, don’t be afraid to go another direction in order to meet the original goal. The goal is the most important part of the plan. The written action steps are just starting points.