"If you don't know where you are going,
How will you know when you get there?"
- The Cheshire Cat in Alice in Wonderland
Your chapter needs a plan. How else will it know where it's going? You may think you do. Yet until it's articulated in writing, it is only a thought, not a plan. Peter Drucker tells us: "We can't think in our heads. We can only think on paper—and paper is cheap."
Recognizing the challenge of constructing an effective business plan in any organization of volunteer workers—people with great intentions yet pulled by demands from many directions—Guy Kawasaki provides the ideal solution: a one-page business plan. And, in his words, "Nothing more than wishful thinking holds together most long-winded [buisiness] plans."*
Putting your chapter plan in writing establishes focus and creates the tangible framework needed for positive results. It is all about critical thinking.
Only one page, three sections, period. This limitation effectively forces the plan's author(s) to concentrate on the essentials and to clearly and purposefully think through all of the issues.
Articulate the Vision/Direction/Mission...Who Are You?
The why of the enterprise with three essential attributes:
- Brevity
- Flexibility
- Differentiation
Develop Objectives...Where Are You Going?
The what of the enterprise, in both quantitative and qualitative terms, with these attributes:
- Challenging
- Few in number (four or five, no more)
- Inspirational
- Stable
Frame Strategies
The how, the enterprise's marching orders.
Attributes:
- Linkage (to objectives)
- Active (action plan)
- Pragmatic (practical)
- Flexible (responds to change)
*Adapted from Guy Kawasaki's book Selling the Dream, with grateful acknowledgment (a 1991 HarperBusiness paperback).