Reviewing and Forecasting

That's the mode I'm in these last few days of '05 and first couple of days for '06.

It's been a good year, '05, for progress in a number of areas with the company and personally. (2005 ha' been beddy, beddy good to me...If you're not a SNL fan, don't worry. )

So, it's on that basis I plan for '06. 

I believe Sir Alek Newton said that if I've seen far it's because I've stood on the shoulders of giants. And if we've accomplished much this year at the company, it's because we all stand on the shoulder of giants. Those giants are all of us, partners and colleagues, who commit to such high standards of service excellence for our customers.

That sounds so 'corporate'. Honestly, we've just got a great group of folks here and not only are they consummate pros in what they do, they're also incredibly dedicated to going that one more step or two or three to make it right. They're honest and ethical; They're creative, flexible...they're great fun to work with.

It's a great basis for planning.

Thinking Faster has a great post on this same subject. He titles it Taking Stock. And his thoughts on planning include this great advice and reminder:

One thing about setting goals for the future - make sure they are RAM.  Realistic, achieveable and measurable.  For instance, I can establish my yearly goal of losing some weight, or I can establish a goal to lose 10 pounds by March 1.  This is a clear goal that is realistic, achieveable and measurable.  For some goals it may make sense to identify milestones along the way.  If my goal is to build a new building in 2006 which will take eight months, I may want to include some significant milestones along the way - foundation in place by February, framing in place by April, etc.

With that reminder, I'll invite everyone here to participate in this process both collectively and for their own goals.