Quiet reflection after effective action brings in more effective action. Do you agree?

Peter Drucker once said, “Management is doing things right; leadership is doing the right things.” This quote rings especially true to me. As a team at CPAC, we strive for excellence – both in the way we carry out our work and the work we choose to take on. For CPAC, our compass has always been our strategic plan. In our early years, we took our lead from gaps in the regional cultural plan that was the 

 of our organization. Those gaps became our three core competencies: capacity building, public policy and research. CPAC’s board has adopted two strategic plans since then, and each time we have engaged in a rigorous community process designed to reflect, verify and select. We reflect on our successes (and our failures). We verify our understanding of the environment - looking at what the community desires of CPAC, while simultaneously considering what the community will need from us in the future. After all of that, we select those goals and activities that we believe best position us to help move arts and culture forward.

This year CPAC turns15 years old and our current strategic plan draws to a close. With the end of the current plan in sight, it brings to mind another Drucker quote, “Follow effective action with quiet reflection. From the quiet reflection will come even more effective action.” And so that bring us to today – and the commencement of a new strategic planning process and an opportunity for reflection. CPAC recently brought forth a survey that will help us understand where things stand today and what you (the community) will need from us in the future. We look forward to gathering and absorbing your candid feedback, which will help inform our organization’s direction for the next three years. So stay with us. Complete our survey. Sign up for our email newsletter. Subscribe to our blog. Come to our events. Your engagement will ensure that the next strategic plan is well-informed, organizationally appropriate and deeply connected.

As for the direction of the blog posts you’ll likely see from me in the coming months, you can expect them to give a nod to Drucker’s 

 above. I’ll be seeking out – and sharing – resources that help you think about both what you do and how you do it. Whether it is a brief video, a good book, or a blog post – my goal is to inspire quiet reflection and effective action.