During our professional careers, most of us probably encountered the “5 P’s” in one way or another. One way to identify successful people and projects, we learned, was to analyze the way in which their plans and expectations were turned into success. We know that it is not enough to plan – you have to implement them and fine-tune them as you go along – but we also know that good planning is fundamental to success.
A program like Osher is no different. In the course of the essays I have written about this program, I have frequently referenced our need to plan a semester ahead. We all understand this.
I used to emphasize this to my high school students. At the honors and AP levels where I generally taught, kids had often reached this level by successfully “winging it” relying on their natural talents to help them achieve to a degree that was acceptable to them and to their parents. Part of my job was to convince them that what had worked for them up to now was unlikely to take them to the places they wanted to be. When they objected to being forced to draft even a rudimentary outline for an essay, I told them some variant of the following:
Imagine getting up one sunny summer afternoon and deciding you want to spend the day at the beach. After coordinating with your friends, you walk out your front door, look to your left and to your right, and decide to go to the right, saying as you go “I hope this takes me to the beach.” My students agree that this is ludicrous, that they would use a map. Because they were bright kids, they understood what I was saying without my having to spell it out. The outline was their map. Without it, they won’t get where they wanted to go.
I also used another phrase: “You get where you’re going.” It does not mean that you get where you want to go; without a plan, the result is a randomized consequence of a series of unfocused decisions. If you want to go to med school, for example, you have to know the sequence of things you need to do to get there; wandering around and hoping you arrive at the school of medicine is unlikely to achieve the desired result.
The people who manage the Osher program are wiser than my 11th- and 12th-graders. A meeting I attended yesterday afternoon provided an example of this. Last semester, we inaugurated a class called “We Want You to Teach for Osher.” This class was intended to recruit new instructors to “fill the pipeline” of instructors for future years. Every year, thousands of retirees move to Williamsburg, eager to embrace retirement with passion and enthusiasm. We call these folks the “go-goes,” in contrast to the “slow-goes” and the “no-goes” that we all become if we live long enough. A regular infusion of “go-goes” is essential to the health and vitality of the organization.
Yesterday’s meeting was a planning session in preparation for the next iteration of this class, scheduled for the afternoon of September 14. The panel of instructors who taught the class last semester was joined by a number of other instructors who were interested in taking the reins for this next go-round. The meeting produced just the result we wanted: we identified a new panel for the September class, handed them the thumb drive with the PowerPoint slides we used, and talked them through our concept and decisions that will result in this year’s class. They’ll take it from here, but they also have our contact information in case they have questions.
Last spring, about 24 people attended the class. From that group, more than a dozen people joined our instructor list and are offering brand-new courses this fall. Enthusiasm is growing (and membership is increasing) as early registration for the fall courses has proceeded for the last week. The early registration period ends tomorrow, but the response so far has been encouraging.
I think the slogan with which I began this essay is not exactly accurate – good planning does not actually prevent poor performance, although it makes it less likely. But “Proper Planning [makes it less likely that you will experience] Poor Performance” doesn’t fit on a bumper sticker or corporate planning document.
Excellent!!