A Good Principle…

When I think about last year, it amazes me just how much we really accomplished in Ottawa.  I mean, I only just connected with Todd Bender in the spring of 2010 to let him know we were considering opening a branch in Ottawa and wham! six months later we were already launched and well into our first City Kidz season.  Looking back, it’s all a little surreal to me.  I never would have thought that I’d be able to accomplish something like this in just a few months.  I owe it all to excellent prayer support, careful planning, finding a great team who was willing to jump on the pioneer wagon with me, much appreciated church sponsorship from my home church and last but not least, ongoing coaching from Todd. 

Key to the success of this, however, was setting a launch date right from the get go.  Todd is very big into setting a reasonable target date to launch and I believe this was the incentive that kept things in motion.  Failing to pick a date often results in launch objectives being pushed back as anomalies arise to thwart your progress.  Humanly speaking, when we are faced with a problem we have a tendency to take the path of least resistance and will work to overcome the problem at a slower pace (or not all) with the result that all our lofty goals get put on the proverbial shelf until we can move on.  With a date chosen, our perception of an unexpected obstacle changes from something that pushes our launch date back into something that needs to be overcome to meet the date.  Typically we end up finding a way where there is no way and the target date is met.  I know for a fact that City Kidz Ottawa had more than one of these “anomalies” arise during our start up phase, but every one of them was overcome with a little creative thinking. 

I suppose this is all Management 101 but I’m impressed because it works.  I’m sure it’s one of the main reasons why, after only a few months of planning (and LOTS of hard work), City Kidz Ottawa was able to launch and touch the hearts of children sooner, rather than later.

…And ONE for all!!