Notes from Colleen’s Desk: Falling Strategically Forward

I spent some time over the weekend with my sisters in Sisters, Oregon. It was an intentional sister’s retreat.

We retreated for some shopping, meandering, and a bit of nothing. We also spent time in jail. Later, we pontificated our moments of misbehaving, the return to standard time and how we would fall back one hour. Technically, we really gain an hour of sleep, to which I shouted hallelujah!

And then I quickly revisited my normal confusion over the whole time change thing, which we have both celebrated and bemoaned, since 1918. It’s more political than I had ever imagined. So, I will quickly move on, but not before commenting that messing with anyone’s sleep can be a bad move. Start saving up your sleep now because you will lose that hour again in about 150 days. Still unclear though if we are really saving daylight.

Whether we turn the clock back or forward, I am intrigued by the language of falling back, rather than springing forward, such as it relates to the concept of a staff or company retreat. Yes, we withdraw from our usual routine to give space to fresh ideas or simply unplug from daily demands. Which is why I will find secluded lakes like Cliff Lake in the Sky Lakes Wilderness area (pictured) near Klamath Falls, to visit. No matter that it is a 5.5 miles trek one way, that is also part of a good retreat; time to reflect.

I might have even stayed overnight there just a few weeks ago except for the 30-degree temperature at 2 pm, and the prospect of freezing that night. That said, a retreat can also convey that one might want to run away, run off, or make a run back to the car with heated seats.

I might also opt to retreat and withdraw come March 13, 2022, when we will all be asked to spring forward and give up that hour of sleep we just redeemed.

The SOREDI staff is planning a retreat next week for some strategic thinking and intentional pondering in the Oval Office. We need to do some presidential, big picture thinking. We’ve been working with heads down over the last 20 months responding in big ways to administer grants to hurting businesses, revisiting the usefulness of every software system we use, and reevaluating just about everything.

It is nearly two years since our updated One Rogue Valley Strategy rolled out, as well. So, it’s a good time to give way to some down time outside our normal office and home digs to gather and revisit priorities. We may even need to re-introduce ourselves to one another after a long season of remote work. A refresh and reset.  After all, of your six-member committed economic development team, five began work with SOREDI in the last 20 months!

What will we continue to do, stop doing (like using words that start with re-), and maybe start anew – while staying in alignment with our Strategy?  Many organizations have creatively opted to call their company retreats an advance, instead. Like let’s not go backwards, but let’s pull together some great ideas and move forward, make headway, and progress. To which this self-confessed doer shouts out another hallelujah.

SOREDI was established to serve the business community, which is dynamic and ever-changing, particularly now. Things simply cannot always stay the same or we risk becoming ineffective and stagnant like a pond. That would simply stink.

Our vision, mission, goals and values have not changed like the autumn foliage and we are grateful to have a thorough and articulate One Rogue Valley Strategy to follow over the next 5 years through many inevitable seasons of change.

But we are always interested in how we can keep falling strategically forward, and not backward.  Maybe you have an idea to share – we are always open to your forward-thinking ideas.