Getting Things Done

PART ONE
about the purpose of what you're doing, you have no
chance of winning. Purpose defines success. It's the
primal reference point for any investment of time
and energy, from deciding to run for elective office to
designing a form.
Ultimately you can't feel good about a staff
meeting unless you know what the purpose of the
meeting was. And if you want to sleep well, you'd better have a
good answer when your board asks why you fired your V.P. of
marketing or hired that hotshot M.B.A. as your new finance
director. You won't really know whether or not your business plan
is any good until you hold it up against the success criterion that
you define by answering the question "Why do we need a business
plan?"
It Creates Decision-Making Criteria 
How do you decide whether
to spend the money for a five-color brochure or just
go with a two-color? How do you know whether it's
worth hiring a major Web design firm to handle your
new Web site?
It all comes down to purpose. Given what you're
trying to accomplish, are these resource investments
required, and if so, which ones? There's no way to
know until the purpose is clarified.
It Aligns Resources 
How should we spend our staffing allocation
in the corporate budget? How do we best use the cash flow right
now to maximize our viability as a retailer over the next year?
Should we spend more money on the luncheon or the speakers for
the monthly association meeting?
In each case, the answer depends on what we're really trying
to accomplish—the 
why.
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It Defines Success
People are starved for "wins" these days. We
love to play games, and we like to win, or at least be in a position
where we 
could 
win. And if you're not totally clear
Celebrate any
progress. Don't
•wait to get perfect.
—
Ann McGee
Cooper
Often the only way
to make a hard
decision is to come
back to the
purpose.

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