Hope is our strategy
18/09/13 05:30
I have a friend who is very successful and widely recognized as a community leader who is fond of saying, “hope is not a strategy.” I’m not sure that she knows her quote comes from a book about selling things by Rick Page or that it is a favorite quote of Mitt Romney. Her meaning is simple and clear. Saying, “I hope something happens,” is not the way to build success. The problem with the quote is that it uses the word hope to mean, “wish,” and there is a big difference between wishes and genuine hope. If I were to analyze the quote, I might even question the use of the word “strategy.” Her quote is merely an update of the traditional English proverb, “If wishes were horses, beggars would ride.” Success demands more than just wishing. Action is required.
But I would like to use my friend’s quite differently than she intends when she says it because I believe she is right. Hope is not a strategy.
Strategic planning has its roots in the military. Webster’s New World Dictionary defines strategy as “the science of planning and directing large-scale military operations, of maneuvering forces into the most advantageous position prior to actual engagement with the enemy.” Common usage, however, has most people thinking of strategic planning as part of business management. Various models for strategic planning for businesses were developed in the 1950’s and during the 1960’s and 1970’s it was popular for businesses to use the SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats) to analyze their practices and develop plans.
Non-profit organizations generally are slower to adopt business practices, and the fad of strategic planning swept through non-profits a few decades later. It was incredibly popular in educational institutions through the ‘70’s, ‘80’s and ‘90’s. In universities and in other non-profit institutions strategic planning has not been more or less successful than in business. It has never been more than modestly successful in guiding institutions. The basic problem is that the process demands large amounts of time and requires a lot of reporting, analyzing and other processes. Businesses and non-profits that forgo the process often find that their administration and overhead is much smaller than those who invest heavily in planning processes. To modify my friend’s quote, “Planning is not doing.” Or to quote another friend, “I have no idea who thought that a university would be well served by using the same process that guided the Rand Corporation during the Vietnam War.”
In the highly competitive environment of American business, strategic planning has been replaced by other management and planning processes. Some of them have been fads as much as was strategic planning. Project management is a discipline that many different enterprises have adopted as a way of breaking down overall goals into temporary endeavors that can be well defined and accomplished in set time frames. A variation on the theme of project management is process improvement. Probably the most famous school of process improvement is known as Six Sigma (not to be confused with Sigma 6, the six-piece band that became Pink Floyd). Six Sigma was developed in Motorola Corporation in the 1980’s and was adopted by General Electric in the 1990’s. When applied to industry, Six Sigma seeks to identify things that cause variability in manufacturing and business, develops statistical models and puts into place quality management practices to decrease defects and errors. Largely due to the success of the process in General Electric, the Six Sigma process has been adopted by a large variety of different enterprises. In keeping with the trends of previous generations, non-profit organizations have been a bit slower than for-profit ventures in adopting Six Sigma, but it is now becoming a buzzword in the non-profit world.
In sharp contrast to the “schools” of planning and fads of management techniques, it is not uncommon for a business or enterprise to become highly successful without adopting the particular patterns of successful businesses of the past. It is often the case that success does not come from imitating the practices of others, but by developing practices that are appropriate to the situation. Some of the most successful of contemporary corporations have developed unique business practices that have served them well. Google corporation is often cited as a leader in innovation not only in technology but also in its business practices. Essentially what the company did was to take the energy, vision and enthusiasm of its young founders Lary Page and Sergey Brin and temper it with the experience of Eric Schmidt, who was brought in from Sun Microsystems. This multi-generational leadership team combined youthful energy and enthusiasm with a bit of experience and wisdom to achieve remarkable success. They didn’t follow the fads, they didn’t fall prey to the model of meeting upon meeting that often plagues large organizations.
Which brings us to my basic management principle. Mind you, it isn’t original. I didn’t invent it. And it is also important to remember that I don’t work within a large organization. Our church is largely a volunteer enterprise with a half dozen paid staff, mostly part-time. I have no idea how to run a big corporation. What is do know is that sometimes you simply have to just do the work. I’m not a fan of Larry the Cable Guy and I don’t think many would describe me as a redneck, but I like the phrase “Get ‘er done!” See a job and do it. In my position in the church that applies to everything we do from picking up litter in the parking lot to planning the funeral of a beloved grandmother of the church. Line up the tasks and do them. Don’t count the hours, just do the job. When we are hiring employees one of the most important characteristics I look for is the ability to identify what needs to be done and to do the work. We don’t have a lot of time for meetings and planning and developing strategies. We need to get the work done.
Which brings me back to my friend’s quote. I guess I have to say I disagree with her. Hope, in fact is our strategy. Hope is not idle wishing. It is, rather a strong and confident expectation. “We know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” (Romans 8:28). We look for and respond to God’s call for our personal lives and for the organization of the church. We are confident that when we are engaged in the work God calls us to do we are about an enterprise of deep meaning.
“And hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit.” (Romans 5:5)
More than a strategy, hope is our core business.
But I would like to use my friend’s quite differently than she intends when she says it because I believe she is right. Hope is not a strategy.
Strategic planning has its roots in the military. Webster’s New World Dictionary defines strategy as “the science of planning and directing large-scale military operations, of maneuvering forces into the most advantageous position prior to actual engagement with the enemy.” Common usage, however, has most people thinking of strategic planning as part of business management. Various models for strategic planning for businesses were developed in the 1950’s and during the 1960’s and 1970’s it was popular for businesses to use the SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats) to analyze their practices and develop plans.
Non-profit organizations generally are slower to adopt business practices, and the fad of strategic planning swept through non-profits a few decades later. It was incredibly popular in educational institutions through the ‘70’s, ‘80’s and ‘90’s. In universities and in other non-profit institutions strategic planning has not been more or less successful than in business. It has never been more than modestly successful in guiding institutions. The basic problem is that the process demands large amounts of time and requires a lot of reporting, analyzing and other processes. Businesses and non-profits that forgo the process often find that their administration and overhead is much smaller than those who invest heavily in planning processes. To modify my friend’s quote, “Planning is not doing.” Or to quote another friend, “I have no idea who thought that a university would be well served by using the same process that guided the Rand Corporation during the Vietnam War.”
In the highly competitive environment of American business, strategic planning has been replaced by other management and planning processes. Some of them have been fads as much as was strategic planning. Project management is a discipline that many different enterprises have adopted as a way of breaking down overall goals into temporary endeavors that can be well defined and accomplished in set time frames. A variation on the theme of project management is process improvement. Probably the most famous school of process improvement is known as Six Sigma (not to be confused with Sigma 6, the six-piece band that became Pink Floyd). Six Sigma was developed in Motorola Corporation in the 1980’s and was adopted by General Electric in the 1990’s. When applied to industry, Six Sigma seeks to identify things that cause variability in manufacturing and business, develops statistical models and puts into place quality management practices to decrease defects and errors. Largely due to the success of the process in General Electric, the Six Sigma process has been adopted by a large variety of different enterprises. In keeping with the trends of previous generations, non-profit organizations have been a bit slower than for-profit ventures in adopting Six Sigma, but it is now becoming a buzzword in the non-profit world.
In sharp contrast to the “schools” of planning and fads of management techniques, it is not uncommon for a business or enterprise to become highly successful without adopting the particular patterns of successful businesses of the past. It is often the case that success does not come from imitating the practices of others, but by developing practices that are appropriate to the situation. Some of the most successful of contemporary corporations have developed unique business practices that have served them well. Google corporation is often cited as a leader in innovation not only in technology but also in its business practices. Essentially what the company did was to take the energy, vision and enthusiasm of its young founders Lary Page and Sergey Brin and temper it with the experience of Eric Schmidt, who was brought in from Sun Microsystems. This multi-generational leadership team combined youthful energy and enthusiasm with a bit of experience and wisdom to achieve remarkable success. They didn’t follow the fads, they didn’t fall prey to the model of meeting upon meeting that often plagues large organizations.
Which brings us to my basic management principle. Mind you, it isn’t original. I didn’t invent it. And it is also important to remember that I don’t work within a large organization. Our church is largely a volunteer enterprise with a half dozen paid staff, mostly part-time. I have no idea how to run a big corporation. What is do know is that sometimes you simply have to just do the work. I’m not a fan of Larry the Cable Guy and I don’t think many would describe me as a redneck, but I like the phrase “Get ‘er done!” See a job and do it. In my position in the church that applies to everything we do from picking up litter in the parking lot to planning the funeral of a beloved grandmother of the church. Line up the tasks and do them. Don’t count the hours, just do the job. When we are hiring employees one of the most important characteristics I look for is the ability to identify what needs to be done and to do the work. We don’t have a lot of time for meetings and planning and developing strategies. We need to get the work done.
Which brings me back to my friend’s quote. I guess I have to say I disagree with her. Hope, in fact is our strategy. Hope is not idle wishing. It is, rather a strong and confident expectation. “We know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” (Romans 8:28). We look for and respond to God’s call for our personal lives and for the organization of the church. We are confident that when we are engaged in the work God calls us to do we are about an enterprise of deep meaning.
“And hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit.” (Romans 5:5)
More than a strategy, hope is our core business.