I noted Christmas lights on a neighbor's home and thought, "Wow, they are either very proactive or very lazy." I like to see the good in people so I went with very proactive, but my gut tells me that's not the correct assessment. It's easy to identify with them, we all know that when the lights go up it's a bit exciting. The holidays are coming which means we can feast and celebrate even if we don't believe in the icons associated with the holiday.
But either way, it's fun to get into the spirit and the lights are an indication of better things to come. And then the holidays get started; parties, too much food, over-ambitious spending, hours of hearing your drunk uncles moan about the "liberals" and so on and so forth. By the time presents are open, I know I am surveying the lay of the land in order to set forth the action plan to return to a life of normalcy. But for some the holiday times are just so much effort that when it comes to taking down the lights it just seems so much work and they become distracted by the thought of a new project....New Years Eve Party! And although they have the best intentions, the excitement surrounding a new project over shadows closing out the last one. So what is my point?
Great question and one I ask myself often. The point is projects have a beginning, a middle and an end. The closing out of a project carries just as much importance as starting one so plan ahead for the tasks that you will need to accomplish to close out the project. This may include assessments, developing policies and procedures or just cleaning up a work area. So to all my fellow Google members...work your plans and always remember to "take down your lights".
Keep Growing! Aaron
