Men Talk Articles - Oct/Nov 2002
Mapping the Future of the Men’s Center: The Energy Is Building
– © 2002 James Quenzer
I am always amused when I hear about others’ vacations, especially their driving vacations. Inevitably, Mom & Dad load the kids in the minivan along with a dozen suitcases and head out for a road trip. If it’s to a new destination, the story is predictable: they get lost. Dad, who is driving, decides that he can find there “on his own,” while Mom wants to stop for directions or buy a map. Meanwhile, the kids have their input, too, “When are we going to get there?” and “Can I have a drink of water?” They eventually arrive, but not without a few wrong turns. I think everyone has either experienced this, possibly with variations, or heard the story from someone else.
The process that The Men’s Center is currently undertaking is very similar to planning a road trip to a new destination. For those of you who don’t know me, I am pleased to serve on the Board and coordinate a new initiative: Strategic Planning.
Strategic Planning is the process of defining where an organization wants to go. The Men’s Center has 25 years of history in providing excellent service with limited funds. A strategic plan will allow it to more carefully map its future and, as a result, fulfill much more of its potential.
Strategic planning is a multi-phase project. The first phase is an analysis of SWOT – strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats/challenges. SWOT analysis provides a baseline for receiving input from members and assessing the current situation. The Men’s Center recently completed the first part of SWOT analysis. During this phase, highly active members of The Men’s Center were asked to complete a detailed survey of all areas of SWOT. They identified a number of areas important to the future of The Men’s Center.
The next phase of SWOT analysis involves all of you. Using the survey results as a focusing tool, we will now spend a number of weeks asking for your input, adding detail to the analysis, gathering more information, and following up with individuals. This process will culminate with the annual planning meeting in late January 2003, and will move us to the next phase of strategic planning: defining initiatives, goals and objectives.
The final strategic plan will have the following components: strategic initiatives, tactical goals, and operational objectives.
Strategic initiatives are high-level definitions of directions in which The Men’s Center wants to go. If strategic planning is similar to creating a travel plan, then strategic initiatives are the destination and the stops along the way. One example of a strategic initiative is this: “The Men’s Center will strengthen its ability to deliver its core services.” This example would include a detailed list of what The Men’s Center defines as its core services.
Tactical goals provide more detail to strategic initiatives. They are mid-level goals similar to a list of roads and freeways that need to be traveled. One example of a tactical goal would be: “The Men’s Center will increase its membership to 1,000 members by the end of the year 2005.”
Operational objectives are the most detailed statements within the strategic plan. Frequently, they are combined with tactical goals for smaller, less complex organizations. In addition, there are two types of operational objectives: ongoing and project-based.
Ongoing objectives deal with items that are periodically reviewed by setting new targets and timelines, but they always need to remain a focus area. An example of an ongoing objective would be the recruitment and retention of volunteers: “The Men’s Center will establish a contact list of 50 volunteers, including their skills, interests and time availability by the end of 2003.” While the details may change (how many and by when), the issue of recruiting and retaining volunteers will be an ongoing effort.
Project-based objectives are also important in strategic plans. These objectives are pursued for a given period of time and, once met or re-defined, may not appear again. An example of a project-based objective would be: “The Men’s Center will raise $500,000 in order to purchase its own building by the end of the year 2007.” Once met, this objective would become obsolete, and other objectives may be identified.
Please note that the examples I’ve given are ones that I’ve created – they may or may not appear in the final strategic plan, or may show up in a different form. They are not given here to lead the membership in any direction, but simply to clarify the concept being discussed. Your input will determine the content of the completed strategic plan.
Finally, the completed strategic plan serves two purposes. First, it provides a roadmap for the future that inspires individuals to become active participants in the events occurring at The Men’s Center. Second, it provides a marketing tool for communicating with other organizations, either in building alliances or raising funds.
I encourage each of you to think about the above areas, especially the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats/challenges of The Men’s Center. Then, send an email to me at tech@consultant.com outlining your thoughts. I will compile them over the coming weeks into one central document. You may request that your identity remain confidential, if you wish, and I will report to the Board and to the greater membership in that way. I look forward to hearing from many of you, and hope you’ll engage with me on this exciting process for The Men’s Center.
James Quenzer is a current board member of the Twin Cities Men's Center.
Spin-off -- Anger Management Has Many Applications
– © 2002 Bob Anderson
(Editor's note: This is an excerpt from the Foreward to a course in anger management for the visually impaired developed by one of The Men's Center's facilitators. It will be offered at Vision Loss Resources this October 2002.)
I developed this curriculum based on my experience facilitating anger management classes at the Twin Cities Men's Center. While that program focuses on ending abuse in relationships, I found the concepts and skills -- and more importantly, the process -- helpful in dealing with my blindness. This was an unintended result, not at all why I entered the program. For years, I have wrestled with issues of anger: rage, righteousness, passive-aggression, defensiveness, withdrawal, depression and control issues -- you name it, I've been there.
But what I found as a consequence of my involvement in the Men's Center program was something surprising. With respect to my growing blindness -- I am in the later stages of retinitis pigmentosa -- I mellowed, became more gentle, developed the capacity to flow with situations and learn what they had to teach me.
Instead of getting flustered when I got disoriented in the Minneapolis skyways, and feeling embarrassed and humiliated at my confusion, enraged at the obstacles in my path, the people who bumped into me or tripped over my stick, the walls that seemed to materialize out of nowhere and box me in like a trapped rat who couldn't find the cheese; instead of glowering and muttering and shrugging off expressions of concern and offers of help from anonymous passers-by -- I found myself at peace; I flowed. I tapped gently and deliberately, my breathing calm, my body relaxed, taking each obstacle as another clue, each mistake as a gentle correction to keep me on my path. Each offer of help was further evidence that the universe was not hostile or indifferent, but with me all the way, providing what I needed. You could call this magical thinking; I call it moving in harmony.
I reported another break-through in a subsequent class. I was walking along Marquette with my cane one afternoon during rush hour, when a car pulled out of a parking garage, ran over my stick and snapped it in two like a twig. A few years earlier, I would have stamped and railed like Rumpelstiltsken, exposed in my vulnerability. But this time I kept my cool. The driver apologized, said he didn't see me, and offered to drive me to my destination. I realized immediately, even before he spoke, there were two sides to this situation. The exit was a narrow opening in the wall, which was flush with the sidewalk, and I had veered from the center of the broad walkway and was tapping against the wall to get my bearings. Maybe he didn't see my stick until it was too late. Maybe he was harried, distracted, careless for a moment -- I have been there, in the tumult of downtown. All this flashed into consciousness in an instant, along with my terrible vulnerability, the sound of that snapping stick. I have lost five or six sticks to cars in my career; my mom always tells me, "Be glad it wasn't you," when I am tempted to rage at the idiocy of drivers and lament my awful predicament -- and as usual, there's wisdom in her counsel.
I reported this incident to my group with some pride, because part of what we learn in anger management is to develop a sense of perspective and detachment, and a sense of empathy, mutuality and respect for the other creatures with whom we share this planet. But in all honesty, I had to report that I declined his offer of assistance. There is in me still a sense of pride and independence that is not always healthy; and I had to confess, as I turned and hobbled home, my back bent, tapping my half-stick in front of me, its crushed end flopping lamely on the sidewalk, I wanted to shame him, hurt him. The ugly part of us dies hard. A step forward, a step back -- anger management is life-long work.
I have told these stories at length, because that is what we do in anger management, tell stories. In the telling, and the hearing, we are healed.
I have gained immensely as a blind man from my work with anger management. There is a great grieving and anger associated with vision loss; we can get stuck in it, or we can flow with it, learning as we go. I invite you to see your vision loss, and your grieving and anger around that loss, as a path to insight and healing. That is why I have written this curriculum, and why I am teaching this course.
Bob Anderson is a current facilitator of Anger Management classes at the Men's Center.