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Planning for Implementation
Visualize. If you visualize what it will be like to have achieved your goal, you will be more motivated to stay focused and work hard. Developing a vision is a part of most organizations’ mission statements. It should be part of yours also. Develop a Support Group. Associate with people who can and will support you in achieving your goals. These can be friends, family, coworkers, or anyone with the resources that you need to be successful. Reward Small Wins. When you achieve incremental progress toward your goals, reward yourself. This will help maintain your commitment and motivation. Continually Evaluate and Make Adjustments. You need to adapt to changing circumstances and setbacks in a realistic fashion. When things do not work out as planned, be honest with yourself about why. You may encounter unforeseen obstacles, lack of resources, or even changes in your own desires. Goal setting is an ongoing process and changing direction is desirable when appropriate.
Planning for Implementation
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Planning involves defining a strategy for achieving goals. It is concerned with what, how, and when things need to be done. The eight-step planning process is illustrated in Figure 3.1. It consists of the following activities: identifying your mission and vision, analyzing the environment for opportunities and threats, assessing your strengths and weaknesses, formulating specific operational objectives, deciding on strategies to implement the plan, and determining how to evaluate results. Planning begins by identifying your overall purpose, or mission statement. This is the foundation of all operational goals, planning activities, and criteria against which actual accomplishments are measured. Once you know your overall purpose in life, you can perform a SWOT analysis: examine the fit between your personal Strengths and Weaknesses and environmental Opportunities and Threats. This analysis will reveal the operational objectives, or short-term accomplishments, that you need to achieve to arrive at your vision. Next, you should formulate specific strategies for achieving your goals by capitalizing on your strengths and identifying niches that you can excel in because you have distinctive competencies. No matter how effective your strategies are, they cannot succeed if they aren’t implemented properly.
2 Analyze the environment 3 Identify opportunities and threats
1 Identify overall goals: mission statement
SWOT analysis [steps 2–5]
6 Identify operational objectives
4 Analyze the organization’s resources 5 Identify strengths and weaknessess
FIGURE 3.1 The Planning Process.
7 Formulate strategies
8 Implement results
9 Evaluate results
Consequently, you need to establish timelines and checkpoints. Finally, you need to constantly evaluate your progress toward your goals, changing strategies when necessary.
CONCEPT QUIZ
Answer the 10 questions in the following true–false quiz. The correct answers are listed at the end of the quiz. If you get any answers wrong, reread the chapter to find the correct answer. Circle the right answer. True False 1. If you don’t have goals, it really doesn’t matter what you do because you don’t have any desired outcomes. True False 2. Your values determine what you believe is desirable or undesirable. True False 3. Honesty and ambition are “instrumental” values. True False 4. Your personal mission statement is your life philosophy or creed. True False 5. A vision should be a part of your mission statement. True False 6. Goal setting is an ongoing process and sometimes requires changing direction. True False 7. Planning is concerned with what, how, and when things need to be done. True False 8. A SWOT analysis examines the fit between your personal Situation With appropriate Organizational Theories. True False 9. Once you have found a niche, you can stop scanning the environment and concentrate on producing. True False 10. No matter how effective your strategies are, they cannot succeed if they aren’t implemented properly.
Answers: (1) True; (2) True; (3) True; (4) True; (5) True; (6) True; (7) True; (8) False; (9) False; (10) True
BEHAVIORAL CHECKLIST
The following behaviors are important for effective self-management. Use them when evaluating your own self-management skills and when giving feedback to others. Self-management Requires: •Clarifying and sharing your values •Acting congruently with your personal mission statement •Sharing your vision of the future •Committing to specific objectives that will contribute to your vision •Assessing personal strengths and weaknesses of all parties involved •Discussing environmental threats and opportunities •Setting SMART goals that are specific, measurable, attainable, realistic, and time-bound •Developing plans and implementing strategies to accomplish them •Continually evaluating progress and making adjustments when necessary •Rewarding small wins •Evaluating progress and making changes when necessary
MODELING EXERCISE
The Alligator River12 Objectives
To assess terminal and instrumental values and demonstrate how they affect behavior and interpersonal relations.
Procedure.
1.Group Formation. Form groups of five or six members. 2.Reading. Read The Alligator River Story that follows. 3.Individual Ranking. After reading the story, individually rank the five characters in the story beginning with the one whom you consider the most offensive and ending with the one whom you consider the least objectionable. Briefly note your reasons.
The Alligator River Story
There once lived a woman named Abigail who was in love with a man named Gregory. Gregory lived on the shore of a river. Abigail lived on the opposite shore of the same river. The river that separated the two lovers was teeming with hungry alligators. Abigail wanted to cross the river to be with Gregory. Unfortunately, the bridge had been washed out by a heavy flood the previous week. So she went to ask Sinbad, a riverboat captain, to take her across. He said he would be glad to if she would consent to go to bed with him prior to the voyage. She promptly refused and went to a friend named Ivan to explain her plight. Ivan did not want to get involved at all in the situation. Abigail felt her only alternative was to accept Sinbad’s terms. Sinbad fulfilled his promise to Abigail and delivered her into the arms of Gregory. When Abigail told Gregory about her amorous escapade in order to cross the river, Gregory cast her aside with disdain. Heartsick and rejected, Abigail turned to Slug with her tale of woe. Slug, feeling compassion for Abigail, sought out Gregory and beat him brutally. Abigail was overjoyed at the sight of Gregory getting his due. As the sun set on the horizon, people heard Abigail laughing at Gregory.
4.Sharing. After all have finished, group members share their rankings and reasons. 5.Group Decision. Groups agree on a consensus decision for a final set of rankings. In reaching your decision, listen to other points of view and share all of yours until everyone is satisfied that the group’s agreed-upon ranking is the best that can be achieved in your group. Do not just add up and average individual rankings, assign rankings randomly, or take a quick vote. These quick methods don’t allow for learning about yourself and from others. Instead, talk things through and explain all positions until all agree on a common set of rankings.
INDIVIDUAL RANKING FORM(Abigail, Gregory, Sinbad, Ivan, Slug)
Rank Name Reasons
First (Worst)
Second
Third
Fourth
Fifth
GROUP CONSENSUS RANKING(Abigail, Gregory, Sinbad, Ivan, Slug)
Rank Name Reasons
First (Worst)
Second
Third
Fourth
Fifth
6.Debriefing. One at a time, group members should give each other feedback on the terminal and end values they exhibited through their ranking and behavior during the group ranking exercise. Feedback can also be given about the behaviors members demonstrated when explaining their own ranking preferences and their reactions to others’ preferences. Total Time. 50 minutes (setup, 5 minutes; exercise, 30 minutes; debrief, 15 minutes)
GROUP EXERCISES
Group Exercise 1: What Are Your Values?13
Rank the first column, terminal values,1 (most important) through 17 (least important). Rank the second column, instrumental values,1 (most important) through 23 (least important).
Rank Terminal (End) Values Rank Instrumental (Means) Values
______ Achievement ______ Action-oriented ______ Aesthetics ______ Ambitious ______ Contentment ______ Athletic/physical ______ Equality ______ Brave ______ Excitement ______ Compassionate ______ Harmony ______ Competent ______ Health ______ Considerate ______ Liberty ______ Creative ______ Love ______ Decisive ______ Peace ______ Dependable ______ Pleasure ______ Disciplined ______ Prosperity ______ Energetic ______ Security ______ Friendly ______ Self-esteem ______ Good-natured ______ Social status ______ Honest ______ Spirituality ______ Intelligent ______ Wisdom ______ Open ______ Orderly ______ Outgoing ______ Rational ______ Reserved ______ Spontaneous ______ Tough-minded
Debriefing
Share and compare your rankings with those of someone who knows you well. Discuss what your own past behavior tells about your values. Discuss the difference, if any, between what you say you value (terminal end values) and what you do value (instrumental means values). Total Time. 25 minutes (ranking, 10 minutes; dyad discussion, 15 minutes)
Group Exercise 2: Write Your Eulogy14
Imagine going to the funeral of a loved one. Picture yourself driving to the funeral, parking the car, and getting out. As you walk inside the building, you notice the flowers, the soft organ music. You see the faces of friends and family. You feel the shared sorrow of losing, the joy of having known, that radiates from the hearts of the people there. As you walk down to the front of the room and look inside the casket, you suddenly come face to face with yourself. This is your funeral, 3 years from today. All these people have come to honor you and to express their feelings of love and appreciation for your life. As you take a seat and wait for the services to begin, you look at the program in your hand. There are to be four speakers. The first speaker represents your family, immediate and also extended—children, brothers, sisters, nephews, nieces, aunts, uncles, cousins, and grandparents who have come from all over the country to attend. The second speaker is one of your friends, someone who can give a sense of who you were as a person. The third speaker is from your work or profession, and the fourth is from your church or some community organization where you’ve been involved in service. Think about what you would like each of these speakers to say about you and your life. What kind of husband, wife, father, or mother would you like their words to reflect? What kind of son or daughter or cousin? What kind of friend? What kind of working associate? What character would you like them to have seen in you? What contributions and achievements would you want them to remember? Look carefully at the people around you. What difference would you like to have made in their lives? Take a few minutes to jot down your impressions.
1. Family 2. Friends 3. Work 4. Community
If you participated seriously in this exercise, your responses touched on some of your most fundamental values for living a desirable life. The idea of beginning with the end in mind is to behave each day in ways that contribute to the criteria you have established for living a worthwhile life. If your values are clear, you can be proactive and make decisions about how to act instead of reacting to emotions and circumstances. You can act with integrity, which means practicing what you preach regardless of emotional or social pressure, and not allowing any irrational consideration to overwhelm your convictions.15 Total Time. 15 minutes for writing personal eulogy
One of the most effective techniques to ensure that you always behave in worthwhile ways is to develop a personal mission statement that focuses on what you want to become (your life goals) and how you want to achieve this state (your instrumental values).16
Preparation
Take a few minutes to review your values, rankings, and the eulogy that you wrote in the previous exercises. Next, review the examples of mission statements in the text.
Write Your Personal Mission Statement
Your personal mission statement is your life philosophy or creed. As you write it down, include sections on (1) the kind of person you want to be (character), (2) what you want to accomplish in your life (contributions), and (3) the principles you want to guide your behavior (values).
Debriefing
When you are finished writing your personal mission statement, pick a partner you know well and share the statement with him or her. Your partner will ask clarifying questions and provide feedback. Then share your eulogy and values rankings. Your partner will provide feedback about the congruency between the three. When you are finished, switch roles and provide your partner with feedback.
Total Time. 45 minutes (writing personal mission statement, 15 minutes; dyad sharing, 30 minutes)
Summary Checklist
Take a few minutes to reflect on your performance in the exercises you just completed and on the feedback you have received from other team members about clarifying your values, personal goal setting, and planning. Make a check (✓) next to those behaviors in which you want to improve to increase your self-management skills. ______Clarifying and sharing your values ______Acting congruently with your personal mission statement ______Sharing your vision of the future ______Committing to specific objectives that will contribute to your vision ______Assessing personal strengths and weaknesses of all parties involved ______Discussing environmental threats and opportunities ______Setting SMART goals that are specific, measurable, attainable, realistic, and time-bound
______Developing plans and implementing strategies to accomplish them ______Continually evaluating progress and making adjustments when necessary ______Rewarding small wins
APPLICATION QUESTIONS
1. What are your operational goals in important life areas that when achieved will contribute to your personal mission? • Career • Family
• Education • Finances • Religion • Community • Others 2. What opportunities and threats does the future hold with respect to achieving your goals described in question 1? How can you keep abreast of developments that may affect your goal achievements? 3. What are your strengths and weaknesses with respect to achieving your goals described in question 1? What can you do to increase your ability to achieve your goals? 4. What were the differences in missions, visions, values, and plans of the last two presidential candidates? 5. How can you ensure that you continually assess your progress toward your goals? What can you do if you discover that you are off course?
REINFORCEMENT EXERCISES
1. On a sheet of paper, draw a large pyramid with five levels. In the bottom level, write out your terminal or end values. They are your foundation for decisions about what goals to pursue.
Write your mission statement in the fourth level. In level three, fill in the instrumental values that will guide your behavior in achieving your goals. In level four, write your long-term goals (determined in application question 1). In level five, write your operational goals for the coming year. Carry your pyramid with you and refer to it for guidance whenever you are in doubt about making short-term or daily decisions. Remember that any action you take should be congruent with your values and goals. 2. Apply the SMART formula to goals you wrote down for the first application question. Make sure each goal is specific, measurable, attainable, realistic, and time-bound. 3. Watch an episode of a current TV series. Determine the differences between characters in their goals, values, and planning processes. 4. Watch a movie in which the story is about achieving an important goal. Try to discern the main character’s mission, values, and plan. Look for how the main character applied the planning process and reacted to environmental threats and opportunities. 5. Determine a strategic plan for achieving your mission and vision in life. Use Figure 3.1—The
Planning Process, as a guide. Your plan should start with (1) a clear mission statement, followed with your (2) vision of what it will be like five years from now if you are successful, (3) a personal SWOT analysis, (4) a gap analysis, (5) a statement of your operational goals, and finally (6) an action plan for achieving your operational goals.
ACTION PLAN
1. In what areas of value clarification, goal setting, and planning do I most need to improve?
2. Why? What will be my payoff?
3. What potential obstacles stand in my way?
4. What are the specific things I will do to enhance my self-awareness? (For examples, see the Reinforcement Exercises.)
5. When will I do them?
6. How and when will I measure my success?
Endnotes
1.Copyright 1994 by National Research Bureau,
P.O. Box 1, Burlington, IA 52601-0001. Reprinted by permission. 2.Adapted from R. E. Quinn, S. R. Faerman,
M. P. Thompson, and M. R. McGrath, Becoming a Master Manager (New York: John Wiley &
Sons, 1990), pp. 33–34. 3.Lewis Carroll, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland (New York: The Platt & Peck Co., 1900), pp. 62–63. 4.Christopher P. Neck & Charles C. Manz, Mastering
Self-Leadership,4th ed. (Upper Saddle River, NJ:
Prentice Hall, 2007), p. 5. 5.Phillip L. Hunsaker, Management: A Skills Approach, 2nd ed. (Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 2005), p. 4. 6.Peter G. Northouse, Leadership Theory and Practice, 4th ed. (Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, 2007), p. 3. 7.Bill Brooks, “Self-Management and Character,” The
American Salesman, February 2006, pp. 19–21. 8.Milton Rokeach, The Nature of Human Values (New York: Free Press, 1973). 9.Adapted from Stephen R. Covey, The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People (New York: Simon &
Schuster, 1990), pp. 106–109. 10.Adapted from Stephen R. Covey, First Things
First (New York: Simon & Schuster, 1995), pp. 318–319. 11.Judith Sills, “How to Become Your Own Boss,”
Psychology Today (September/October 2006), pp. 65–66. 12.Adapted from Sidney B. Simon, Howard
Kirschenbaum, and Leland Howe, Values Clarification, The Handbook, revised ed. (Sunderland,
MA: Values Press, 1991). 13.Adapted from Milton Rokeach, The Nature of
Human Values (New York: Free Press, 1973). 14.Adapted from Stephen R. Covey, The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People (New York: Simon &
Schuster, 1990), pp. 96–97. 15.Becker, Thomas E., “Integrity in Organizations:
Beyond Honesty and Conscientiousness,” Academy of Management Review, 23 (January 1998), pp. 154–161; quote, p. 157. 16.Stephen R. Covey, The Seven Habits of Highly
Effective People (New York: Simon & Schuster, 1990), pp. 106–109.
