Strateegery. Is that a word??

There is an old Saturday Night Live parody of “George Bush” debating “Al Gore” in the 2000 campaign. At the close of the debate, the candidates were each asked to sum up their positions in a single word.

Al Gore said, “Lock Box.” Laughter followed.

The camera closed in on Mr. Bush. “StraTEEgery!” he exclaimed, to the guffaws of the audience.

No one can butcher the English language like Mr. Bush can. In fact, I cringe every time I hear him say “newk-you-lar,” instead of “nuclear.”

But whether you pronounce it “StraTEEgery” or “Strategy,” its meaning is the same. It is a military term for conducting a campaign to gain advantage in war. It can be used to describe means of accomplishing plans, or steps one takes to complete a task.

Honestly, I’ve never been a real good strategist. Now, I’m a good list maker. And I’m a good problem solver. I’m even a good “Idea” person. But I start to power-down whenever someone invites me to a Strategy Meeting of some sort. And if someone starts talking about “Cleaning Strategies,” or “Business Strategies,” I mentally check out.

That’s why the title of Michael Hyatt’s blog series back in February caught my attention. Mr. Hyatt is the President and CEO of Thomas Nelson Publishing. His topic, “Why Vision is More Important than Strategy,” delves into creating a vision of the reality that you want.

“Vision and strategy are both important.” he writes. “But there is a priority to them. Vision always comes first. Always. If you have a clear vision, you will eventually attract the right strategy. If you don’t have a clear vision, no strategy will save you.

I have seen this over and over again in my professional and personal life. Once I got clear on what I wanted, the how almost took care of itself.”

His words have struck a chord with me. I am often strategizing when I should be creating a compelling vision. I’m bogging down in the details of a plan I really don’t buy into, even when I’m the one who came up with the plan in the first place. I like his recommendations for developing a vision, and I think they can be applied to almost any area of life, including my home life. After all, as a Mom, I am the Chief Operating Officer of the most important organization on earth: my family. If I don’t have a vision of what our home can be, how can I expect anyone to buy into my strategies?

Here are his suggestions:

Get alone with just you, a journal, and a pen. If you can get a way to a solitary place, so much the better.

Make sure you won’t be interrupted. Turn off your cell phone, e-mail, television, etc.

Close your eyes and pray. Ask God for inspiration and guidance. What you ultimately want is alignment between His plan and your vision. But don’t make this harder than it needs to be. God usually speaks through our desires. If that’s a new thought, then read John Eldredge’s book, Journey of Desire.

Now write down your current reality—all the things that are bad and that you don’t like. Be brutally honest. It’s difficult to change unless you find your current reality unacceptable.

Now write down what you would like to see happen. Write it down in detail. If you can, use all five senses.

Write it in the present tense, as though it has already happened. This will make it more believable to you.

Share your vision with the people who have a stake in the outcome.

Commit to reading your vision daily. This is critically important. “Faith is the evidence of things not seen” (Hebrews 11:1). The more you can “see” this, the more likely it will come to pass.

Don’t get hung up on how you will accomplish your vision. Just believe God and watch it come to pass.

I haven’t had a chance to digest the full meaning of Michael Hyatt’s posts yet. But already I can sense a change in how I will approach the challenges that face me. Just THINKING of my vision in the present tense has given me a whole new perspective. I hope you’ll take a moment to read his blog posts on this subject. The only thing is, he SHOULD have titled the series,

Vision is More Important Than Strateegery

Then, those of us in Texas would know exactly what he is talking about!