One writer said, "Strategic planning is a process that tests your relevancy, stimulates change and provides a roadmap to move into the future." The first step in this is a vision. Vision speaks to some desired future state, a place we'd like to see ourselves in by a certain point in time: "I want to visit Greece before I'm fifty" or "We want to open a bed and breakfast when the kids grow up."
But to have a vision is not enough. It's been wisely said that "Vision without action is hallucination." A good vision should compel us into action, and the amount of work required is usually related to the complexity and the "stretch" required to get there.
This is where strategic directions come in. They are like the plays in a football game, helping us move the ball towards the end zone. But we all know that health care is a very complex enterprise. The pace of work can be dizzying, and the "foreseeable future" is more like six months. While we cannot plan for every contingency, it is essential that we link our efforts to the future that we want to create for our patients, residents and community. It's about taking the passion that is Caritas's greatest strength and ensuring our energy and effort is aligned to maximize our contribution to those in need.
Whether this happens or not is up to us. It's important to remember that strategic planning is about change, not business as usual. It's about identifying opportunities to be of greater service and setting a path; it's about defining who we are through intentional action.
So the question is not "Is strategic planning relevant?" but rather "How do we at Caritas make it useful for the reality we live in?" As we move from vision into action you will be asked for your ideas as to how we can shape Caritas and we all will begin to examine what the vision is calling us to do. I would encourage all of you to participate in this process, and I am looking forward to the exciting months ahead.
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