No Vision is Complete without a Plan

November 29, 2021

Good morning! Do you say poinsettia or poinsetta?  How about meteorologist or meterologist; data or data? “We are better throughout the year for having, in spirit, become a child again at Christmastime.”  (Wilder)

• “Do you know what love is?”  “I believe it’s a life tied to another life in a way that feels inseparable.  We care about a lot of people, but we choose to love a very few.”  (Krueger)
  • BOOK:  I had forgotten the excellent writing of William Kent Krueger until I accidentally grabbed Northwest Angle (2011) from one of those neighborhood libraries.
  • Krueger is a Minnesotan who skillfully weaves geography, characters, intrigue, culture, and history into his narratives.  At times he might take too many digressions, but don’t we all?

The Old Farm House

By Michael A. Mullin

Beyond the broken shingles

peeling paint

weathered siding

sagging foundation

and broken glass

patched with cardboard and straw

is a warmth so welcoming

and delicious

it massages your muscles

to the center of your marrow

marinating forever into your soul

so that the memory of

coming home chilled to the bone

is like a never-ending loving embrace.

No Vision is Complete without a Plan

• It always comes down to logistics.
  • And, to allowing for the chance of an NFL Hall of Famer being assaulted in the face with a chunk of flying bread dough.
  • Many years ago I was asked to chair the food service operation for a winter camp where a thousand or more people would be cold, surly, and hungry.
  • The history and culture of this event had included long lines, predictably unsatisfying meals, and general chaos logistically.
  • A few of us expressed a vision which included no lines, no waiting, tasty nutritious hot food, and civilized behaviour at table.
    • A pretty good vision, don’t you think?
  • But, what good was the vision without a plan to make it come true?
  • This is where strategic thinking and tactical realities become just as important as the vision itself.
  • It’s fascinating, for example, to study photographs of the long line of chuck wagons supporting the soldiers at the Battle of Gettysburg.
  • Who thinks about the chuck wagons?!  How often have you seen photographs of the behind-the-scenes details that made that three day battle possible?
  • How did those tens of thousands of people eat?  What did they eat?  When did they eat?
  • As we thought about transforming our vision into reality we knew we needed lots of people, the right people — people who embraced the vision.
  • We needed a menu featuring tasty food.
  • We needed a reasonable chance for success — and optimism.
  • We needed to procure groceries, transport them, store them, and have a way of turning the groceries into meals.
  • We needed equipment — stoves, ovens, tables, dishes, silverware, storage containers, tables, chairs, napkins, and much more.
  • We needed knowledge of how to prepare meals for 1,000 people who could sit down together at tables all at the same time (no lines) and enjoy a meal in a civilized environment.
  • We needed leadership at different levels and with different skill sets.
  • We couldn’t afford to have someone with a different vision, at least not throughout these 48 hours; we’ll listen later.
  • We needed to keep our volunteer workers happy — especially when it involved getting up at five o’clock in the morning and not getting to bed until past midnight.
  • Some of that happiness might have digressed to errantly tossing a few ingredients related to tomorrow morning’s caramel rolls.
  • There’s not time or space to share the details, but long story short, we pulled it off — for several years in a row.
  • We pulled it off because we had a vision — and then we had a plan — and then we worked the plan.
  • One thousand people sat down to family-style meals those weekends featuring homemade caramel rolls, Huntstiger sausage (the best!), fresh eggs (yes, we cracked EACH egg x4,000), hot coffee, cold milk and juice; individual cornish game hens with sprigs of parsley tucked under each wing, individualized meat loafs with surprise centers of melted cheese, one year a full-sized roasted turkey with all the trimmings for each table of eight, homemade bread…
    • It always comes down to logistics.
  • Oh, one key to all of this was instead of trying to operate out of one kitchen, we used four kitchens and dining areas… one as the headquarters/ staging area and then three others at the various meal times to divide and conquer the crowd of 1,000 into four groups of 250 experiencing state-of-the-art hospitality in manageable subgroups.
  • Oh, the NFL Hall of Famer?  He did get hit in the head with flying bread dough… and was not happy, not happy at all.
    • Herewith is a belated apology… it was an unintended consequence of letting playfulness get perhaps a bit out of hand as an arguably necessary ingredient to keeping the volunteers happy — and therefore, productive.
• Do you agree with Warren Buffet?  “Hire well, manage little.”