On My Mind
Many organizations are now several weeks into the implementation of their 2022 Strategic Plan which is a good time to conduct a review to determine if implementation activities and actions are staying aligned with the four key foundational elements of the organization. I wrote about these four items in my Visions & Visioning paper which was published last September: “A vision is one of four key foundational elements commonly addressed during strategic planning . . . the other foundational elements are mission, philosophy, and values . . . A mission describes why the organization exists. A philosophy consists of one or more statements that describe the collective philosophy of the members of the organization. Values are words or statements that describe the deeply-held beliefs of the members of the organization. Values are used to guide member behavior (e.g., Integrity, Teamwork, Respect for People, Inclusion, etc.).” If you have been implementing your 2022 Strategic Plan and have one or more of the four key foundational elements, then this might be a good time to conduct a review.

Interesting Stories
Magnus Carlsen of Norway—who retained the World Classical Chess Champion title recently—won the prestigious Tata Steel Chess 2022 Tournament which was held in Wijk aan Zee in the Netherlands against thirteen Grand Masters. He won six games and drew seven games. It was another dominating tournament performance by the Champion. Interestingly, the player with the white chess pieces in chess makes the first move of the game and this has been shown to be an advantage because it determines the direction and tempo of the game. There were ninety-one games played in the Masters Division at the Tata Steel Chess 2022 Tournament with the following results: the player with the white pieces won 26 games (28.6%), the player with the black pieces won 16 games (17.6%), and there were 49 draws (53.8%). If you are not very familiar with the game of chess and are challenged to play a game, then choose the white pieces.

Company News
I’ll be presenting on Creating a Quality Vision on the evening of February 8, 2022 at the MN American Society for Quality Section Meeting (Zoom platform). The next public Leading Strategic Improvement two-hour short course will be held on the Zoom platform on March 15, 2022 and the next public Visions & Visioning two-hour short course will be held on the Zoom platform on April 19, 2022. The next public Strategic Improvement Green Belt course starts May 18, 2022. The brochures are available on the PUBLIC SEMINARS page of this website.

Intriguing Reads
I recently read the book The Miracle of Mindfulness: An Introduction to the Practice of Meditation by Thich Nhat Hanh. Hanh passed away in January of 2022 at the age of 95. He was a Vietnamese Buddhist monk, poet, teacher, and author among other things. He had a profound impact on the world because of his promotion of mindfulness throughout the world. One of the book chapters I enjoyed the most was Chapter 5: One Is All, All Is One: The Five Aggregates (bodily and physical forms, feelings, perceptions, mental functionings, and consciousness). If you want to slow down and think more deeply about your life, then give this book a try.