Once you set a goal and you make a plan, then you should set two types of milestones – Process Milestones and Impact Milestones. I notice that most people do not set milestones and when they do they only set Process Milestones. Process Milestones are periodic check-in dates in which you look at your Action Plan to see if all of the action steps are being followed. You can … [Read more...] about Process & Impact Milestones
Implementation
Implementing Almost Impossible Goals
The implementation of traditional Attainable goals is straightforward. By definition, you figure out how you are going to accomplish the goal while you are setting it. Usually this means that there has been a certain process you have been using in the past that you are making some incremental improvements to. Based on your projections of how well those improvements are … [Read more...] about Implementing Almost Impossible Goals
Strategic Plan? Oxymoron.
Strategy? Yes. Plans? Yes. Strategic Plan. No. Not exactly. What organizations need is a Strategy – an overarching general explanation of how they are going to guide their performance during the coming years. Then they need to build specific Plans to implement the Strategy. The Strategy should be targeted toward Strategic Stretch Goalsthat are designed to significantly … [Read more...] about Strategic Plan? Oxymoron.
When More Duct Tape Won’t Do It
A number of years ago I was flying to Rockland, Maine with a couple friends and we needed to take a small puddle jumper for the final leg of the trip. Before we took off, the pilot got out a ladder and went over to the wing near the window where we were sitting. Then he pulled out some duct tape and applied it to something we could not see on top of the wing. Duct tape … [Read more...] about When More Duct Tape Won’t Do It
Should Nonprofits Run Like a Business?
As a professor in a business school who is a former nonprofit CEO and consultant to nonprofits, I am often asked: “Should a nonprofit be run like a business? Easy answer, “No.” A nonprofit should be run like effective nonprofits are run. However . . . . . There is a lot we – in the nonprofit world – can learn from business best practices. Far too many nonprofit … [Read more...] about Should Nonprofits Run Like a Business?