Thomas J. West Music

This popular quote is not contributed to a specific author, but it is appropos for many occasions, including teaching:

"Failure to plan on your part does not constitute an emergency on my part."

In preparing for a major event with mutiple details that must be coordinated, there is always a period of organization, a stage of executing several small tasks that must be performed in order to set the stage for the event, execution of the event itself, and the denouement when loose ends are tied up and thank-you's are given. From an event as simple as planning a child's birthday party to planning something as monumental as a graduation ceremony or a wedding.

I find it rather interesting that events such as these, especially when they happen annually, still have a tendency in many organizations to be thrown together at the last minute. In some cases, it may be a lack of resources or personnel that leads to "cramming", but in most cases, I think it is simply a matter of hectic schedules and shifting priorities delaying action.

Lack of preparation always leads to increased anxiety and stress, and who needs that?

Advanced planning can be just as crippling as disorganization. If plans are made, continually redrawn, and little action towards the goal is taken, the end results can be the same.

This article (c) 2011 Thomas J. West. All content on ThomasJWestMusic dot com is licensed under a Creative Contributions Attribution-No Derivative Works 3.0 License. Please contact the author before publishing on or off-line.

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