Key Assumptions

In the Paterson Strategic Operating Plan process we learn that no organization has ever died from too many opportunities. Organizations die from invalid key assumptions and unmanaged risk. As we did with Perspective let’s define Key Assumptions; A Key Assumption is a fundamental principle we are living with we believe critical to our success. We may or may not have validated it as truth. Think of it like a hypothesis in math or science that has yet to be proven through the proof process. A hypothesis begins with an assumption.




Each of us live daily with assumptions; the car headed toward me will stay in its lane, my work will be rewarded, I can make that putt, etc.



In the 25 plus plans I have completed, I have yet to encounter a group that could rattle off the assumptions they were operating with and the proof they were all valid. In fact, what are much more common are phrases like “I never thought about our assumptions” or “I don’t know if my assumptions are valid or not, how do I found out? “. Let me introduce the concept of Key Assumptions with three short examples. In the 3 day Strategic Operating Planning process for a company we were discussing what assumptions were we living with. One participant threw out “Our customers love us”. The group participating all agreed. Incorporated into this particular client’s plan was the assumption “Our customers love us”. Fast forward two years later. I had been brought into facilitate a two day review of the plan and we arrived at Key Assumptions. The aforementioned phrase was reviewed. The group grew quiet and the CEO said“That’s not true”. I asked why and he reported they had lost one of their largest and most tenured clients. The discussion that followed led to a detailed breakdown of how we had lost the client. Today the client is back with procedures in place to do our best to prevent a recurrence. In another organization, the group, a non-profit, depends heavily on a particular state fund. Each time they review their plan they review the assumption “State funding will remain in place”. One morning the leader of the group received a call this funding was being discussed in a senate committee for termination. Within 5 hours the leader and about 22 constituents related to the non-profit were in Columbia, SC meeting with a subset of the senate committee. By day’s end the funding was intact and off the table. Imagine what would have happened if this group had not come to understand how critical this assumption was to their very survival. A different outcome would have most certainly played out. Finally, I recently was brought in for a review after a multi-year break in working with a particular client. When we arrived at Key Assumptions the owner asked the group to define one word in one of their most critical assumptions. Not one person agreed on the definition. A conversation lasting more than 1 and ½ hours ended with a collaborative answer. The group agreed it was living in a dangerous place with so many different interpretations of the assumption.



The three stories all highlight how organizations can live with real risk, risk they have full control and power to do something about, masked in assumptions that may or may not be valid.



What assumptions have you made about your organization that have yet to be proven as true?





What's Important Now?





Is your organization clear about the assumptions you are living with?



Want to understand more about Key Assumptions and their effect on your organization, your clients, and your future?



Remember to join the conversation by leaving your comments, questions or becoming a follower on my blog.

Giving up? Clear View for LifePlanners Issue 3

The following is written by Pete Richardson (www.convergenceplanning.com ). Pete has immersed himself in the full body of Tom Paterson’s work. I am reprinting this blog, with permission, as it exemplifies the life well lived in surrender or as Tom recently defined it “reverent submission”.



From Pete: “But if you were to cut Tom Paterson, he would bleed surrender. He lost his 12 year

old daughter, Debbie, to bone cancer in the 1970’s. Tom Paterson Jr. drowned in Alaska at age 36 when his float plane flipped on a lake. Jim Paterson was killed a year ago when a car hit him while helping a woman broken down on a Virginia highway. Ginny Paterson, Tom’s first wife, died of lung cancer in the late 1990’s after 54 years of marriage. Meryl Paterson, Tom’s second wife, died last year of Alzheimer’s. He knows something about moving on from life’s losses. Today, you’d never know from his view of life and positive attitude that he has suffered so.



We all face loses of some kind. Suffering, pain, trials, and tests face any hairy biped traveling through time. But what allows a man who has experienced SO much loss in his lifetime to have peace of mind and soul? To have no observable signs of bitterness toward God, life, other people, the world in general?



Surrender.



The concept of surrender invokes quitting, giving up to an enemy. It’s usually applied to competition or combat. “The enemy surrendered.” “The team gave up. Surrendered.” Surrender evokes the imagery of the defeated waving a white flag waving out of the trenches of conflict communicating, “We’re done. We’re laying down our guns.”



There is a time to fight for that which is noble, right, honorable and just. Where would the world be had Churchill and Roosevelt surrendered to the German dictator? Where would our nation be had Lincoln quit in his relentless pursuit of the human dignity and freedom of the enslaved and the integrity of the Union? “



To read the full body of this excellent understanding of surrender go to Pete’s ‘Plog’ at

www.convergenceplanning.com



For those who have completed the LifePlan process, we know to come to fully enjoy the Joy of Christ, we first must come to the place of complete yielding of our own will and demand on our life for the ultimate will of Christ. How is this achieved? All of life is a process and the process of surrender is no different. It is a process. As Linda Brewer pointed out so eloquently in Issue 1, the outcome of yielding our will is the receiving of the Life and Joy of Christ. It’s a process that begins with a choice.



Have you decided to stop telling God what you are going to do and let Him lead?



Are you struggling with the concept of ‘giving up to gain’?



I invite you to continue the conversation with me at www.foraclearview-tmoore.blogspot.com



Do you know others who may benefit from learning more about LifePlans and Strategic Operating Plans? If so I encourage you to forward clear view to 3 friends





Tommy

Clear View Issue 5

This is the 3rd of 3 views on perspective. Most mornings I read a paragraph or two from 4 books: Steps to Christ by Ellen White, The Book of Excellence by Byrd Baggett , Daily Drucker by Peter Drucker and The Book of Five Rings by Miyamoto Musashi. The Book of Five Rings, as told to me, is the Japanese equivalent of The Art of War by Sun Tzu. The Book of Five Rings has transcended the subject of martial arts and has tremendous commentary about life ( written originally in 1644). Musashi states;


“ Observing and perception are not the same thing” and “ …find the state where your eye focus does not change no matter what happens”

What powerful statements about perspective. What are the differences between observing and perception and their impact on perspective? I submit that observing is key to thoroughly understanding a situation or event. I worked with a manufacturing engineer who developed the “bucket” technique. He would take a 5 gal bucket, turn it upside down and watch an operation to see all of the intricacies that were occurring simultaneously. I learned much about engineering by watching him watching. Perception introduces my subjective bias. None of us can be completely divorced from our bias. However, when we clearly observe and seek input from all who have a vested interest we limit our individual bias as we gain the collective wisdom of the group.

What about focus? Musashi suggests it is one of the most critical skills of the accomplished martial artist. Is there really any difference for anyone who endeavors to be accomplished in their respective expertise? Tom Paterson teaches “ Focus is the convergence of all resources for a single purpose. Concentration is the result of sustained focus. Concentrated light cuts glass.” When we focus on our organization, our lives, our relationships, combined with the wisdom of those who are invested with us , we are near the best possible view of our situation. When we are fully in perspective, next steps become obvious.

Lead Goose

    April 2010 Issue 2

                                

 

In a recent sermon series my pastor, Rev. Susan Leonard-Ray, spoke about the 'wild goose'.

She referenced ancient Gaelic custom that symbolized the movement of the Holy Spirit in the form of the wild goose. Anyone living in the South is familiar with the migration of wild Canadian geese. As Pastor Susan pointed out, the goose is not tame or domestic. However, it does have very traditional characteristics from which we may draw life lessons. Dr. Angela Cooper completed her LifePlan in 2008. She shared these thoughts about wild geese with me and by permission with you as well.

 

"When geese fly south for the winter or north for the summer it is not a race, a chance to improve their personal best flight time or a chance for each goose to test his/her self alone against nature's forces. These flights are all about the survival of the species. Success is defined by how many not by how fast. Flying in front is determined by 2 factors. Over the course of the flight many individual geese will take one or more turns flying in front. First, the goose in front needs to know the way, have traveled the route one or more times. Secondly, the goose in front needs to be the one that is strongest and in the best condition to bear more load, at the point in time when He/She assumes the lead role. A goose alone cannot fly the distance. To reach their destination the must fly in groups. Flying together the y share lift and reduce the wind resistance of ever individual goose. Being together also provides encouragement and morale support. While the lead goose benefits some from the geese behind, the lead goose is the leading edge that starts the wind separation process that benefits all of the geese behind. This position is several times more difficult and tiring than any other position in the flight. It appears that all of the more able geese that know the way and are not busy nursing specific groups of young or unhealthy geese along will lead at some point. Observations indicate that the strongest geese not otherwise occupied follow a simple front to back rotation. When a tired leader falls off the next one in line becomes the leader and the former falls to the back of the geese in rotation for the lead position. The time a goose spends in the lead position is determined exclusively by condition and circumstances. There are no ego centric geese out to prove their superiority. They form into a V naturally because they instinctively seek to minimize the drag and maximize the shared lift. Flying together is so critical that often when young or unhealthy geese fall back to rest one or more stronger geese will stay back to fly with them when it's time to proceed."

 

So what do wild geese and LifePlanning have to do with each other? In a LifePlan we discuss the significant positive value mentors have in our lives. I believe mentors are similar to the lead goose. They have gone before us and accumulated life experiences helping smooth our way. Clearly this can be God at work in our lives, in the form of another. Also, we must be attentive to when we should and can be the 'lead goose' for others.

 

Interested in discussing more about the high value of mentors? Let's talk…

                                    Tommy

 

Clear View Issue 2

March 2010 Issue 2







Can a group operate without perspective? I offer the answer of yes. Perspective can only be achieved when we are seeking the complete truth of a situation. Last time I shared that we define perspective as the clear, undeterred truth of where we are today and how we arrived here. One of you responded by asking if I believe absolute truth can be achieved. I referred to a book, recommended years early by the same person, Great Ideas by Adler. Adler takes 102 “objects of thought “as he calls them and researched what the great thinkers of the world have to say about each subject. For ‘Truth’ he quotes Aristotle who says “If there were no absolute truth there would be no reason to walk around a well “. I love it. Do I believe absolute truth exist? Yes. Do I believe that it is 100% achievable by a group of people seeking perspective? Possibly not completely, but I have observed too many times to deny that a higher understanding is gained from the collective wisdom of a group.



The first day of a strategic operating plan is set aside for perspective. It is not unusual for us to discover there is missing or incomplete information. We don’t stop the plan to go get it, but it becomes a critical first step. It’s a like a warning blaring “PAY ATTENTION!” Tom Paterson, Founder of the Paterson Strategic Operating Plan © offers this guidance; “A plan built on the truth is destined to succeed, a plan built on fiction is destined to fail, do you know the truth? “

Another point of wisdom on this same subject he offers is “Always try and find the truth first, it is much more painful when it finds you.” If you need help gaining perspective, let’s talk.



Tommy

Clear View for Lifeplanners - Receiving the Gift

February 10, 2010 Issue 1 for LifePlanner


In the course of our time together in the LifePlan, we spent no small amount time gaining a new understanding of surrender. In order to live the life our Lord desires for us to live, we must come to terms with our demand on our lives. It’s the promise of John 10:6-10 :

6-10Jesus told this simple story, but they had no idea what he was talking about. So he tried again. "I'll be explicit, then. I am the Gate for the sheep. All those others are up to no good—sheep stealers, every one of them. But the sheep didn't listen to them. I am the Gate. Anyone who goes through me will be cared for—will freely go in and out, and find pasture. A thief is only there to steal and kill and destroy. I came so they can have real and eternal life, more and better life than they ever dreamed of. ( The Message)

If we see Jesus’ words as the offering of a gift, a gift we could have never dreamed of, are we open to a His gift? Are we accepting without expectation, and willing to yield to the thoughtfulness of the giver?



What feelings come to mind when we are surprised by the genuine unselfish act of one close to us?



One of my daughters has a boyfriend who spontaneously brings her bouquets of roses. She has never been a ‘girlie girl’ and has not displayed a propensity to flowers or other similar gifts. However, when he surprises her with a large display of roses you can see her whole aura light! Who doesn’t love a great surprise gift?



Linda Brewer is one of our LifePlan peers. Linda had an experience that resonated with me at a very deep level. After personally accepting her gift of insight and blessing and with Linda’s permission, I share it with each of you. Linda seeks earnestly to live the life our Lord desires for her to live. She shares an authentic experience that will yield fruit for us all. Please go to the link shown to hear Linda’s wonderful message. Listen and revel in the gift!



http://tinyurl.com/ycvcoeg



Are you living with the gift Christ has for you? If you are not sure, let’s talk.



Tommy