Look Back and Ahead

Now is the right time. Slow down, LOOK BACK, appreciate your blessings, and recharge. Then, LOOK AHEAD, believe, create your plan, and take action to make the new year all you desire.

Look Back and Assess Progress

Look back on the last year and ask, “How are things going?”

• Recognize that assessment is valuable and provides great benefits.
• Read Chapter 6, Assess Progress, in Pursuit of Passionate Purpose for useful suggestions on tools for personal and organizational assessment.
• Take my free Progress Inventory™.
• Appreciate the progress you have made. Count your blessings.
• Reward yourself for any progress, big or small. Pause and recharge.
• Determine what you want to change. How can you fill the gap between where you are and where you want to go? This is the basis for establishing a new plan going forward.

Look Ahead — What’s Your Plan for Making the New Year Better Than the Past?

The best way to predict the future is to create it. But how do you do it? Create a vision of where you want to go, believe you will get there, have a plan, and execute it effectively.

Every company and person should have a plan. A seminal study of graduates from Harvard University showed people (and organizations) with a plan outperformed those without one. Those with a written plan greatly outperformed those with only a mental plan. Having a written plan is a key factor in reaching new heights. That’s why we help leaders and organizations create winning plans.

A one-page strategic plan provides clarity on top priorities for the year and especially for the next quarter. We establish clear key performance indicators (KPIs) for each department and a scorecard to keep track of the progress of important work. What gets measured gets done. Then you can reference the scorecard regularly during weekly and monthly meetings.

My Story

When I was Chief Information Officer running the Office of Information Technology (OIT) for the State of Colorado, we ran an annual strategic planning process. It started with a look back via a SWOT Analysis, or Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats review. This was run at all levels of the organization, individual, department, and entire office.  We asked: how are things going? After clarifying the Governor’s Vision and reaffirming our Values, Vision, and Mission, we would next look ahead to establish Wildly Important Goals. One year we worked towards:

• Goal 1: Increase OIT’s organizational efficiency, transparency, and customer satisfaction.
• Goal 2:  Ensure a Secure Colorado by evaluating and improving statewide cybersecurity practices.
• Goal 3:  Expand virtual access to government services anytime and anywhere. 

Next, we established Key Performance Indicators as metrics for each goal — how would we monitor our progress? Then we cascaded these KPIs throughout the organization to align each employee’s work with the overall Wildly Important Goals. Each employee had individual goals that tied into helping the organizational goals. After establishing a baseline of where we started, monthly we would track and post in a public dashboard where OIT was in meeting our goals. This was so motivating. I am happy to report that in 2019 – 2020 we realized all our goals.

Summary

Look back and appreciate your progress. Pause, recharge, and visualize where you want to go next. Then look ahead and create a plan to get there. You don’t have to go alone — get a coach or advisor to help you on the journey.

Theresa M. Szczurek, Ph.D. is a tech, cybersecurity, and AI-savvy C-level executive, 3x tech entrepreneur, Certified Management Consultant (CMC®), and Certified Corporate Director (NACD.DC) who is the co-founder and Board Director of Radish Systems. As the former State of Colorado Chief Information Officer (CIO) and Colorado CIO of the Year, she runs Technology and Management Solutions, a consulting firm. She researched, authored, and speaks about her best-selling book Pursuit of Passionate Purpose: Success Strategies for a Rewarding Personal and Business Life.

Photo from Insperity