>Experiences include:
>
> - Visioning takes so long that we lose interest
> - There are so many different individual visions that we
> lose a lot of them in the blending
> - After we have the vision, it's nice but then we get back
> to work (ignoring it)
>
>Some thought provoking questions that emerged were:
>
>Why does this vision stuff drive us nuts?
>If we write a vision, so what? What happens next?
>Why does it get watered down?
>Why don't things happen?
>Why is the final written copy the LEAST amount than everyone agrees to?
>Is it really the right thing to do? (When and when not?)
>How SHARED does it have to be?
>Why VISION instead of PURPOSE?
>How do we know if we are really DOING it? (measurement)
>
>Bill Eureka <Bernou11i@aol.com>
>
Great questions Bill. However, I tend to think that there are relatively
sound responses to all of them. Visioning drives us nuts because it
forces us to look into the future. This requires a different thinking
mode than we are used to. What happens next? This is simple, we just
develop a roadmap that takes us in the direction of that future condition.
It gets watered down due to the potential for accountability required in
the development of the plan. Is it really the right thing to do; you bet!
Without a vision, it will be impossible for an organzation to go anywhere,
except to wander. The vision must be shared by all (common sense dictates
that if we want everyone to go on a journey together, we must ensure that
they all know where we are trying to go). The measurement part is easy,
and follow the entire planning process: develop the vision, determine
what the indicators of positive movement are, determine which of these are
most important (we can't do everything), determine where we are starting
from, and develop a plan of how to move in the future direction. The
measurement is done as the differential between the starting point and the
current situation. This process (based on Hoshin Planning) has been used
very effectively in mfg, service, health, govt (?), and education. Go for
it!
James B. Rieley
Coordinator E-Mail: RIELEY@MUSIC.LIB.MATC.EDU
Center for Continuous Quality Improvement
Milwaukee Area Technical College Phone: (414) 297-7806
Milwaukee, WI 53233-1443 Fax: (414) 297-7764