Before we begin...

“Begin, be bold, and venture to be wise.” 
― Horace

We have a bias toward action. We are drawn toward bold and ambitious initiatives. And like Horace suggests, we must "venture to be wise." Accordingly, we know it is wise (and necessary) to make certain fundamental decisions at the outset when we partner with organizations or initiate our own special projects. We have learned from experience that we need clear answers to the following questions prior to commencing; lacking consensus around such items leads to frustration and waste, at best, or outright failure, at worst:

1. Who is on the project team and what are their talents?
2. How will this project team make decisions?
3. What are the S.M.A.R.T. objectives for this effort and what is the business or social case justifying it?
4. Who is ultimately Responsible, Accountable, Consulted and Informed (RACI) within the project team and for what?
5. How will we measure achievement of these objectives and ultimate success?

If our partners or sponsors do not have aligned answers to these questions when first engaging with A&S we welcome the opportunity to guide them through an efficient and effective process to arrive at both these answers and a clear plan. 

We look forward to your thoughts on the topic.