As we consider our lives, we notice patterns that are truly wonderful and patterns that need revision. For me, I've noticed that when I put a lot of time and energy into a project or event, I become drained and unfocused when the event occurs or project is revealed.
I love the creative part of project work including idea generation, project meetings, creating, reviewing, and revising, but when it comes to the reveal or implementation, I'm less interested. In some ways, I think of this as the public relations element of an event or project. Why does this happen?
Thinking back to a big project last year, a project where I tirelessly worked with a team to create a wonderful project and project event, I was somewhat missing in action during the event's finale. I was there in person, but not in spirit--why? With that event, the focus was on good learning and teaching, and the project's finale clearly demonstrated that we reached success with that focus. I think what took me away at the finale was my perseveration with all the details I could see including the guests reactions, the many, many project elements, and the results of the successful show. In a sense, I was seeing 1,000,000, but time only allowed focus on a good 10.
So, in the future, in order to gain better focus during the project or event's finale, I want to identify a top-three that I'll focus on during the project's conclusion, celebration or event. As I consider the finale's top three, I'll think about these questions.
- What do I want to assess at the finale?
- Who do I want to recognize in meaningful, attentive ways?
- What project/event details do I want to highlight with my language, focus, and/or activity?
- What words, thoughts, ideas, and gratitude do I want to express?
- What order of events is critical?
- What will I do when the unexpected occurs?
- What matters?
- What doesn't matter?
- What do I want to enjoy?