Succession/Contingency Planning

In addition to the spreadsheet is another bit of “homework” related to succession/contingency planning. You don’t need to send your responses to these questions back to me, but please give thought to:

•If you stepped into a wormhole and got transported to an idyllic life-sustaining planet a million light years away, how would your team function in your absence?
•Who would do what?
•Do they know how to do those things? If not, how and when do you plan to teach them?
•Do they know they would be expected to do them? If not, how and when do you plan to let them know?
•Are there some things that no one currently on staff would or could do? If so, what’s the recommended course of action for these (outsource, drop, hire consultant, etc.)?

It couldn’t hurt to write your current responses down. If you wrote your answers to these questions down last quarter, please revisit them and see if anything needs updating. For those of you who have experienced recent changes in responsibility, your answers will be understandably lean. Treat this as a starting point that you will be prompted to add to at the beginning of each quarter.

(FWIW, I don’t consider this a formal succession plan. I can’t imagine anyone would.)

Good to hear from you.

In response to your comment, your position actually supports my point. Where there’s a disconnect, I think, is that your context is weight loss being the end and goal-setting as a possible means (that doesn’t necessarily work). The context I was responding to is with a group undergoing the activity of goal-setting with a business-like approach. Goal-setting is the constant in the scenario I was responding within. Some of the group were setting exercise and health goals with the measurable being x lbs loss per month. My email was me suggesting that this doesn’t work well for most people and that for those that it does work for probably don’t need to be prompted to set that goal in the first place. If they are, indeed, desiring to set a goal to help them habituate healthful changes, then they are better off setting a goal that at least aligns with their natural motives. You are correct that there are often other hidden barriers to weight loss and addressing dysfunctional eating habits, and it’s likely that some of the group are subject to these difficulties, but I didn’t think going down that path with this group was appropriate. Not over email anyway.

Thanks for helping me add some context that helps the message apply better to a broader audience. I’m sure there’s more to say and I’m not suggesting this short note is a complete answer. It’s a partial thought that might be helpful for a small contingent.

Thanks again,

Alicia