With a company named FireFly Facilitation and a book called The Firefly Effect,
as you might imagine, I am very fond of fireflies.
And, believe it or not, I think there is a lot we can learn from the simple firefly .
Did you know that one of the reasons the population of fireflies appears to be diminishing is because of ambient light or “light pollution” ? There are too many distractions . All these other bright lights keep fireflies from performing at their best.
How similar and true for the people on our own teams, if we don’t have a common vision of success to focus our time, attention, and resources.
Scarcity of resources—both human and financial—demands that we focus our efforts. The value of strategic planning is not only deciding what you will do, but also deciding what you will not do. When done well, strategic focusing can be one of the most exciting and effective team development tools available to a leader.
There is a well-known saying: “If you don’t know where you’re going, any road will take you there.”
I have found that the most effective teams are exceptionally clear on two things—where they are going and how they must work together to get there.
In taking hundreds of teams through the strategic focusing process , I have found this metaphor (represented by the drawing above) really resonates with people:
Next post...the top 5 ways my approach to strategic planning has changed over the last 10 years.
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