If you don’t know where you’re going, you’ll end up someplace else. ~ Yogi Berra
In their book, The 12 Week Year: Get More Done in 12 Weeks Than Others Do in 12 Months, Brian P. Moran and Michael Lennington contend that we should abandon annual 12 month planning in favor of developing new plans every 12 weeks. Their idea is a shorter timeframe decreases complacency and increases productivity and the likelihood for execution.
Vision Alignment
No, vision alignment isn’t about the corrective lenses in your eyeglasses. It’s about creating and maintaining a compelling vision of the future and aligning your short-term goals and plans with that long-term vision.
The founding principle in Moran’s and Lennington’s thinking is that our plans must align with our visions – both our personal vision and our professional or business vision. “Vision is the starting point of all high performance.”
Your personal vision creates an emotional connection to your daily activities. A compelling personal vision creates passion. It “creates that line of sight, that emotional link” that helps you overcome challenges and execute.
A compelling vision creates a clear picture of the future. The most powerful visions address and align personal aspirations with professional dreams.
What If?
When you imagine a future that’s significantly bigger than your current reality, it may seem impossible. You’ll often ask “How?” “How do I do this?” It’s the wrong question to ask, at this time in your process. If you knew how, you’d already be there – in your new reality.
Instead, you should ask “what if?” What would be different – for you, for your family, your team, your clients, your organization – if you achieved your vision. How would you feel?
By asking “what if?” you enter the realm of the possible and begin to connect with the benefits of your vision. Once you see your vision as possible, you shift to the probable or likelihood of achievement.
What’s Your “What If?”
So over to you…What’s your “what if?” If – that is, when – you achieve your vision, what will change for you? What will be different in your life? How will that make you feel?