Journey to anywhere by Jaime Lavid

JOURNEY TO ANYWHERE

Guide to strategic planning, planning an event, planning a voyage,

success

YOUR ROADMAP TO SUCCES

Imagine for a moment that, out of the blue, a good friend invites you to go on vacation with him. A few questions that are likely to pop up immediately are: - Is this o.k.? - Do I want to do this? - Is it safe? - Is it acceptable? - Can I afford this? values: prescribe desired behaviour, character and culture

Suppose you see no objections. You will start “dreaming” now: What kind of vacation would I prefer? - and he? Beach – Exploration – Cultural – Sports – Hiking … Hotel – Touring – Camping … * mission: brief, typically one-sentence, statement defining the fundamental purpose of the enterprise and what it does to achieve the vision. E.g.: To organize a cultural city trip to a mayor European Town. * vision: concise aspirational, inspirational and measurable definition of the mid- to long- term strategic objectives and goals of the enterprise. States what you “will be”, “will achieve” or “will become” within a certain time frame. E.g.: We will go in August and visit the main museums, churches and points of interest of the town, enjoy the local kitchen, attend a cultural performance and make excursions to some nearby places of historical or cultural importance.

Once you know what you want, it is time to “quantify the vision” i.e: to become more concrete and consider what timing suits the both of you, where to go and stay and what to do there. how you will get to your destination (by car? By plane?) how you will spend your vacation time: •Which places you want to see, •what activities you want to participate in, •and when. This includes setting priorities and deciding whether you will do all things together, or whether you will combine shared activities with a personal agenda.

(Strategic Analysis) * Strategic goals are broad, long-term aims that bridge the “value gap”: the difference between reality (now) and aspiration. E.g.: We will have a good time and enjoy the highlights of early renaissance * Objectives are specific, quantifiable, realistic targets that measure the accomplishment of a goal over a specified time. E.g.: We will visit the Duomo, the Uffizzi, the Galleria Dell’Arte, The Santa Croce, The Chiesa Maria Novela, the Basilica San Lorenzo and the Orson Michele. We will see the Ponte Vecchio and the Walls of Florence, enjoy the panoramic view from the Piazza Michelangelo and visit the market at the San Lorenzo. We will also make excursions to Siena, Pisa and Lucca. In the evenings, we will have lunch at least once at …. And attend one Opera performance. At least half a day will be reserved for shopping. * Strategies are broad activities required to achieve an objective, control a critical success factor or overcome a barrier. E.g.: We will make reservations as much as possible beforehand, since this will be cheaper than reserving in Firenze and will also spare us the time lining up for reservation.

* The success factor defines the desired outcome from a successful strategy execution. E.g.: We will return happy but content after enjoying our city trip to the fullest * Critical Success Factors are essential parts of the enterprise that must be performed or fulfilled if you are to achieve the mission, objectives and goals E.g.: The trip will be considered a success only if we achieve to visit all the places that we planned. If however a planned item has to be dropped, then we will drop the visit to the Orsonmichele and the half day reserved for shopping. If an excursion has to be dropped, we will drop the excursion to Lucca. * Tactics are specific steps to be taken by a defined person, at a certain time and at a specified cost, to implement a strategy. E.g.: You will transfer € to my bank account number XXX before end of this Month. Within 14 days from receipt, I shall buy the airplane tickets for the both of us at Voyage Agent XX Following reservations will also be booked at this occasion: We shall meet at your place on Thursday ../.. to check on the internet for Additional opportunities.

After you agreed on the details of your voyage, it’s time to draw a concrete plan. Plans are made to be changed, but remember : “if you fail to plan, you are planning to fail !” (Develop the Strategy) Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday Sunday 7h00 8h00 9h00 …

With everything properly agreed and planned, you now you have all the information required to start making reservations and preparations for the trip : booking travel agency, subscribing travel insurance, listing useful addresses, checking luggage, clothing, toilet articles, … making sure your plants or pets will be taken care off during your vacation, that your letter box will be emptied …. (projects and actions)

A week before leaving start checking all your preparations. Travel documents ready? Luggage ok? Also, reconfirm deals made: your plans and pets count on being taking care off during your vacation! (monitor and re-evaluate your projects and actions)

Finally: Enjoy your Vacation !

Journey to anywhere Before going any further: may I ask you to stop for a moment and answer two little questions ? : 1.

Have you noticed any important considerations that I forgot to mention in the strategical approach on the previous pages?

In your opinion, have I listed actions which do not contribute to assuring that you will have a successful trip to Florence? That is: suppose that you were really leaving on a trip to Florence, which of the listed actions would you NOT take ?

OK, after having answered these questions, you can now proceed to the last page :

About Success in Life If it takes this amount of planning to assure a successful 5 day trip, How come you are not planning and following through on your planning When it comes to assuring success for this so much more important trip, Which is : YOUR JOURNEY THROUGH LIFE

SUCCESS ENJOY – DRIVE TO ACHIEVE - PASSION TAKE MASSIVE ACTION PLAN – DEVELOP STRATEGIES – PUT 1ST THINGS 1ST SEE OPPORTUNITIES – FIND SOLUTIONS COMMUNICATE – SPEAK YOUR TRUTH, LIVE YOUR WORD MODEL SUCCESSFUL PEOPLE – INTERACT WITH INTERESTING PEOPLE EDUCATE YOURSELF & APPLY NEW KNOWLEDGE CONFIDENCE & RESOLVE : I CAN, I WILL, I DECIDE VISION: I SEE HOW MISSION : I WANT