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Guest Presenter:
Gary Galbraith |
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WHEN THE PROCESS CONTRADICTS |
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Whatever task or project you are considering, the first thing to do is consider the question: What am I intending to do here? In other other words, you are asking yourself: What is my aim in this? What is my mission in this? What do I want to accomplish? These are all different ways of asking: What is my purpose in this? What is the big picture into which this fits?
There may be more than one answer to the questions. And the answer may range from extremely simple to terribly complex. The questions can take you down a philosophical road, but the intent is to go only as far down that road as clarity demands. Answer the "what" question with a short and "to the point" purpose statement; one that is easy for you to remember and is easy to communicate to someone else. If what you are doing involves other people, part of what you will have to do is communicate your purpose to each of those other people.
Some good questions to ask to develop a purpose statement are:
If you had no constraints such as money, time, or physical capabilities, what would you want to accomplish? What would it look like? After you've done this, its important to ask: SO?
Another way to get to the purpose is to ask five times why you want to do what you want to accomplish. After each "why", use the results to figure out the next result. (In some circles, this is known as putting a purpuse statement to "the two-year-old" test; remember how your two year old child kept asking "why?")
It is important that there is a clear and concise purpose statement that is agreed upon by all concerned (even if it's only among the little voices in your head) before you go on.
The next item you need to sort through is: What is my role and responsibility in this? Who and what do I influence and how? Who and what influences me, whether individually or as part of a group or committee involved in this task or project? After identifying these roles, then it's possible to begin setting goals.
When setting goals, it is best to write them as outcomes. In other words, what does it look like when it is done? Think of a football game: goals are what it means to score; it's like standing at the goalpost, ball in hand, looking at the points on the board. It's not running down the field, throwing the ball, or scrambling in the backfield (those are all process). Goals tell you when you have done a good job and successfully completed the process.
There are many good brainstorming techniques which can be used to set goals. If the brainstorming session is includes other people, the main thing is to get everyone's involvement, and get their ideas out where everyone can see them (perhaps on newsprint, whiteboard or blackboard) without analyzing or criticizing until all (repeat ALL) ideas have been generated. After all ideas are up in front of everyone, it is the time to hold them up against the purpose and ask: Does this idea provide a goal that encourages or enhances the purpose? If it does, it is it gets kept. But if it doesn't, it gets thrown out.
When the purpose is clear and the goals have been set, it's time to begin "the plan." Planning seems to be most people's (and most organizations') weak spot. Planning can be helped by having a simple worksheet. A good plan sheet looks like the following and tells who is going to do what, when, and when they will report back.
Purpose:
Goal:
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 Steps
Who |
When
Report |
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
After defining your purpose, setting your goals, and planning, then you have to implement the plan. You must do it! It's easy to break down here. Implementation can stray from the plan, the goals, and/or the purpose.
As an illustration: I now chair my church administrative board; and, to kick off the new year, we decided to have a chili supper. The PURPOSE was to get the church folks to come to the dinner and stay for the meeting, thus promoting more involvement by all church members. So guess who did all the planning, cooking, etc. for the meal that was supposed to help everyone get involved? Another woman (who is very active in our church) and I. Why? Because it was easier that way! All we had to do was figure out how much chili to make. If we got others to do things, we would have lost control; we would have had to take a chance and trust others to do what they said they would;, and we would have to risk rejection by approaching someone to ask them to help do something. It was easier just to do it all ourselves, but that was a contradiction to our PURPOSE.
Another example: I made open kettle bean soup for the Aura Jamboree an annual music fest in the Upper Peninsula. I put fifty-five pounds of navy beans in a fifty-five gallon cauldron of water, along with twenty-five pounds of ham hocks, some carrots, celery, onions, and spices. Then I began to cook and stir it for five to six hours to make it "soup". The PURPOSE of the Jamboree is to get community involvement. While stirring the soup, I met a lady who told me how its done in her community. They deliver one-pound packages of beans to fifty-five local people. It is each person's responsibility to soak their one pound of beans, and bring them to the cauldron the following morning. So which process enhances the purpose?
Maybe, I'll learn some day.
All during the planning stage it's vital to make sure everything that's done is aimed at, and encourages, the PURPOSE.
So, in conclusion, if you want to be successful in your endeavors, ask yourself:
What's the purpose? What are the goals? What's the plan?
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I would be interested in hearing of situations in which your process contradicted your purpose, and how you remedied them. Please contact me by email at: wmclemmer@hotmail.com or by snail-mail at: Gary E Galbraith, Box 58, Genesee, MI 48437 (810) 640-1069 |
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