In Days of Auld Lang Syne
By Ginny Jacobs, PhD, Co-Chief Editor, CE News
Dear Readers,
In early 2020, Dr. Dave Davis and I conducted what was to be the first of a two-part series of SACME’s Virtual Journal Club. It was held in January and it was designed to discuss how we plan for changes in our program portfolio. Specifically, how do we innovate so that we prevent long-running activities from beginning another ‘same-old, same-old’ offering?
What better time than when we turn the page on the calendar year to consider and address what enhancements and/or improvements we want to promote. We made reference to what is all too common in terms of mapping out New Year’s resolutions. They often start out as undisputed good ideas backed by lots of energy. However, over time, the focus may become blurred and the effort behind the goal fades.
Our message focused on the importance of being deliberate in our program portfolio’s planning process. It is essential that plans be clearly communicated and documented, that your team knows what is prompting the change, that metrics be established to assess the impact, and that key stakeholders be engaged in the process.
The second part of the VJC series was to serve as a reminder to formally follow-up on those planful intentions in a regularly-scheduled, systematic manner. Ironically, the effects of the pandemic disrupted those plans as our attention was abruptly turned to critical matters related to how to rapidly convert our educational activities to online platforms. (As I think of it, that period of time serves a rather fitting reminder that sometimes even the best-laid plans must be put on pause to address more pressing concerns.)
So, here we are at the beginning of 2024. What an ideal time to formally map out ideas you wish to incorporate into this year’s programming. We invite you to set-up a schedule for the year to help ensure you introduce and discuss those plans, reinforce, support and monitor the change, and follow your progress through measures of success.
We hope this issue of CE News offers you some thought-provoking prompts to help raise your spirits and advance your work. For those who seek a guiding slogan, I offer the following:
Let’s strive to explore and evaluate more in 2024!
Ginny
Begin doing what you want to do now. We are not living in eternity. We have only this moment, sparkling like a star in our hand and melting like a snowflake.
— Francis Bacon Sr.
