Vision Without Action is Hallucination

I heard a great saying recently:  Vision Without Action is Hallucination!

I think this is a great reminder that it’s one thing to come up with lots of great ideas of what your group (or yourself, for that matter) might be able to do, but without actually taking some practical steps to work toward that Vision, it will remain little more than a pipe-dream.

Sounds pretty obvious, I know, but it is surprising how many groups (and individuals) fall into that trap.

So to avoid becoming a ‘gunna’ (as in “we’re ‘gunna’ do this”, and “we’re ‘gunna’ do that”), identify some high-level strategic directions that will help you move towards your Vision.
Once you know the directions in which you need to head to achieve your Vision, start setting some more concrete goals that will progress you in those directions.

When articulating goals (and do put them on paper!), it can be useful to remember the acronym SMART.
Specific – be as specific and detailed as you can.  If you can close your eyes and picture it, you’re on the right track.
Measurable – how will you know when you have achieved the goal?  Build some measure of success into the wording.
Achievable – is it doable at all?  Or are you aiming for something that is simply unattainable?
Realistic – is it realistic in the time you have allowed, given your current resources (i.e. time, money, people etc)?  Or do you need to break it down into smaller chunks to be achieved over a longer period of time?
Time-lined – set a date by which you will have achieved your goal.  If we don’t have a deadline of some sort to work towards, things can have a habit of getting pushed aside to make way for other priorities.

Then allocate responsibility to someone, and (as the famous sporting company says) Just Do It!

You can download this Blog Post as a tip sheet by clicking here:Tip Sheet_ Vision Without Action is Hallucination Nov 24, 2016