The Planner’s Eulogy

First of all this sounds far more morbid than it should. ***This is not for when you die*** (well, I guess it could be…but I assume you have a few more things going for you outside work).

I have this firm belief that when you start at a new job you have to set your intentions. It’s not just a clean slate for starting a new “McJob,” it’s a beginning of a new chapter, but as any good strategist will tell you, you kind of have to know what you want the ending is going to be before you start the book.

Yes, things change. Ideas evolve, assignments shuffle and expectations evolve. As they well should. But if you force yourself to really think about what you want to get out of the experience you’re entering it sets your own expectations. I find it a handy tool and wanted to share.

Since I’m in the habit of oversharing anyways, here is my (personal) planning eulogy:

• “she changed the way I think about what “planning” does/is capable of as a discipline”
• “she challenged me to think in a way I never thought to go before”
• “she was a little unrelenting in her desire to make things better and make people feel like they were important parts of the process”
• “she’s a person I can look up to, this is (visibly) her passion. she has a lot of integrity in what she does and believes in making great work”
• “she was a lot of fun to work with — made the workplace more enjoyable”

The other thing this exercise does is focuses you on the “right” thing–takes it away from the silly stuff. The politics, the meetings and brings it back to what’s most important. The people. The work. The journey.

This entry was posted on Thursday, August 25th, 2011 at 7:20 pm and is filed under BRANDS. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.