serendipity

A Year-in-Review

A year-in-review process is like investigating golf scorecards from the past 12 months. There was a script of how the rounds were intended to proceed (par) and the reality of the score we achieved. Setting goals for next year is like looking at blank golf scorecards for the rounds we intend to play. There is the ideal scenario, unfettered by any internal or external factors.

How might we leave room for the serendipity we will encounter along the way? Is the goal (par) equal to our abilities, equipment, playing companions, and mindset? How might we recognize the most transformative moments and best stories are often generated from the obstacles we face, not the predictable outcomes?

Year in Review

A year-in-review process is similar to examining scorecards from the previous 12 months of golf. There was an optimal route and score to achieve (par) versus the reality of the rounds played. Rarely did the round run as scripted. The year ahead is analogous to assessing blank scorecards of the rounds we intend to play. There is a plan and the vision of completing the track as outlined and achieving the best possible score.

How much room are we leaving in these plans for the unanticipated? How calibrated is our script to our abilities? How much will our resources and equipment add or detract from the journey?

Golf (and planning for the future) would be boring if they always followed the same articulated plan. Our best stories often prosper from encountering the unknown. Serendipity thrives!

Helpful or Unnecessary?

When are our attempts to set others up for success redundant? Where should we allow for serendipity? How might we frame an opportunity without announcing the ‘moving sidewalk is ending, prepare to step forward?’ Do we need to sign every vantage point and are the moments that have been scripted as remarkable os those we encounter unexpectedly?

How might we allow for wayfinding without providing every adventurer the same script? Even the Wizard of Oz’s Yellow Brink Road presented numerous unexpected side quests.