When I worked as an engineer, I was lucky[1] enough to work on proposals for new implementations of our products. It was long days and blue skies[2], but there is something of hope when you are designing something. There is also risk, but risk and reward are another thought.
We would talk about Tactics (short term) versus Strategy (long term).
And I wonder about that distinction now that I am out of the drama and dreams of proposals.
Tactics are how you get through the week. Strategy is how you get through the year.
A similar approach can be helpful in the everyday life of parenting and negotiating the world as it is now. Tactics are how you get your child on the school bus in the morning[3]. Strategy is when you lean hard on LittleOne to take classes that will lead to an academic degree[4].
As I approach my first plane ride since this whole thing started, I have thought about what my tactics are and what my strategy is.
Strategy only makes sense if you have an end game. If there is a bigger picture you are trying to accomplish, you need a strategy to influence your tactics. At the same time, your tactics are the day to day execution and they have their own limitations.
So, my test is scheduled for Thursday (tactics), and I will know by Friday (or Saturday morning) if I will get to embark on this adventure. But what if I come up positive? Will I go get another test to obtain my strategy of seeing Iceland again?
I would assert that your core values define the tactics you are willing to implement to obtain your strategy.
Why do I say core values govern tactics and not strategy?
Strategy is the planning. Tactics are the doing. I will discover my core values if when I get my result, if I don’t like it, I go get another test so I can get on the airplane.
In my heart, I want to believe that I wouldn’t jump on a plane with a positive test. That would be wrong. On the other hand, I didn’t think I would get the booster shot since the World Health Organization said that people in rich countries shouldn’t get a booster[5] until everyone else in the world had a chance at their first immunization shot.
It sounded great in my mind. Core values. Strategy.
But, my mind rarely stays still, and I started thinking about logistics. Given that my government was going to hold vaccines for boosters and send other doses to other countries. Would my tactic to not get a booster actually influence someone else getting their first dose when my tactics were not aligned with my government’s strategy?
Maybe. But probably not.
So, I changed my tactics and got my booster to support my strategy of going on a trip and experiencing Iceland again.
I am not proud of changing my mind. I am intrigued by my own mind. When trying to obtain a strategy, it is only in execution where you will discover your core values and how they work in the day to day. It is the same old, “the ends justify the means,” and “greater good,” which gets humans into trouble all the time.
So we will see how my tactics to obtain my goal play out as I prepare this week.
It was easier when writing proposals. I never actually had to live with what I put together as the plan.
[1] Yes, good and bad to the “green room,” but I enjoyed it.
[2] Everything always goes as planned from proposal to execution.
[3] Why do 8th graders get the bus at 6:40am?!?!?!
[4] Grades open doors. But that is also another letter.
[5] Yes I qualified. Thank you BMI!