Beginning with the end in mind

I had a blonde moment yesterday. I'm back in Stockholm to run a workshop and was checking into my apartment. Reception gave me the key card and said I needed to go to another building on the left.

Rather too busy thinking about the enticing shopping mall close by, I headed along the street, saw a card swipy-thing on the wall and set about swiping card. Several times. It didn't work. Finally, nice student-looking-man saw me looking perplexed and used his card to let me in. Went inside, saw lots of student-looking posters on the wall, thought it all looked a bit odd, and suddenly realised I had no idea exactly WHERE on the street my apartment building was. Or what number it was, or even what the apartment company was called.  Conversation ensued as follows:

Me: "Er, am I in the right place?"

Nice student-looking-man: "Erm, I don't know. Where IS the right place?"

Me: "I don't know"

Nice student-looking man: "Well, in that case, I don't know whether you're here. And if you're not, I don't know how to get you there either."

Very embarrassing. Had to go back to reception. But very good story for illustrating the importance of setting communication objectives in my workshop. (Every cloud ...)  If you don't sit down and work out what exactly you're trying to get to through communication, you probably won't get there. And even if, by chance, you do, you won't know whether you have, because you won't know where 'there' is. 

Setting goals is the starting point for any communication plan, or should be. But it's tempting to skip it, and I've seen lots of entries for communication awards fall at the first hurdle because there were no objectives in place.

Just a thought for the day. Always nice when something half decent comes out of one of my blonde moments ...

Comments

[Fiona Gibson]

I like this particular quote which seems to sum it up. It's from Alice in Wonderland.
One day Alice came to a fork in the road and saw a Cheshire cat in a tree. "Which road do I take?" she asked. "Where do you want to go?" was his response. "I don't know", Alice answered. "Then," said the cat, "it doesn't matter." I've certainly heard it before when talking about strategy.

[Sue]

I had a vague recollection of Alice in Wonderland in mind when I wrote this, but couldn't think why. All is now clear!

I love some of the quotes from Alice. I have this one on a card:

'Alice laughed. "There's no use trying," she said. "One can't believe impossible things." "I daresay you haven't had much practice," said the Queen. "When I was younger, I always did it for half an hour a day. Why, sometimes I've believed as many as six impossible things for breakfast."'

I've also just found these other two 'could be written just for us' quotes from Through the Looking Glass:

"It's very good jam," said the Queen.
"Well, I don't want any to-day, at any rate."
"You couldn't have it if you did want it," the Queen said. "The rule is jam tomorrow and jam yesterday but never jam to-day."
"It must come sometimes to "jam to-day,""Alice objected.
"No it can't," said the Queen. "It's jam every other day; to-day isn't any other day, you know."
"I don't understand you," said Alice. "It's dreadfully confusing."

"When I use a word," Humpty Dumpty said, in a rather scornful tone, "it means just what I choose it to mean - neither more nor less."
"The question is," said Alice, "whether you can make words mean so many different things."
"The question is," said Humpty Dumpty, "which is to be master - that's all."

[Heather Yaxley]

This is very odd - Judy Gombita and I have been emailing about Alice in Wonderland this morning and I'd resolved to study the text tonight over a bottle of wine for its insight into the blogosphere. One quote came to mind:

“If I had a world of my own, everything would be nonsense. Nothing would be what it is, because everything would be what it isn't. And contrary wise, what is, it wouldn't be. And what it wouldn't be, it would. You see?”

[Sue]

Alice in Wonderland and a bottle of wine sounds a pretty good way to spend an evening to me. I had forgotten how much I love the writing.

Do let us know what blogospheric insights you find!

[Judy Gombita]

I told Heather to put a Drink Me sign on the bottle of wine. And maybe an Eat Me one on some tarts or something. As I know some of the back story to this blogospheric-insights-in-the-making, I can't wait to see what the Duchess of Words (a.k.a. Heather) comes up with, too.

Did you know that you can enjoy Alice in Wonderland online, complete with illustrations? Here are some of the scenes with the Duchess:
http://www.authorama.com/alice-in-wonderland-6.html
http://www.authorama.com/alice-in-wonderland-8.html