Gap Analysis: Taking Yourself To A Higher Level Of Achievements
Leaders of an organization asked me to facilitate a series of discussions on how to transform its organisation.
They were prepared to destroy their current state and to rebuild their organization to make the greatest impacts on their communities and society.
Throughout the sessions, I used different frameworks and ideas to plan and brainstorm with the leaders.
There was a tool that I used that was so simple and yet, it was a great resource to help us reimagine the future and translate dreams into reality.
Some academics called it the gap analysis. It has even been used to help students fine-tune their research for a doctorate degree.
This is how it works.
First, ask yourself:
What’s my dream for the future? What do I really want to achieve by a specific date?
Crafting your dream is like using a compass to help you chart your direction to your destination in life.
Secondly, where are you right now?
If you don’t know where you are, you cannot make a meaningful start.
And reach your destination because you can’teven plan for the journey.
Thirdly, what do you have to do to achieve your dream?
If you dream and you don’t know how to turn your dream into a reality, you’re living in your own mind and not in the real world.
Like diapers, it may give you some comfort but it is definitely not a permanent solution.
Without knowing what to do and taking action, you can’t fulfil your dream.
Fourthly, what causes the gap between your dream and achievement of the dream?
You need to know the sources and roots of the problems so that you can resolve them.
By dealing with the symptoms, your problems will either continue or they will return back to haunt you.
Count the cost to fulfil your dream.
Pay the price and make the necessary sacrifices.
Hard work is definitely a necessary part of a meaningful, fruitful and fulfilling journey.
Fifthly, how can you resolve the issues to close the gap and achieve your dream?
You need to have a plan.
Like they say, if you fail to plan, you plan to fail.
You need to weigh the options to achieve every milestone of your plan.
Map out the strategies and tactics to reach your dream.
It includes a detailed list of actionable steps.
In addition, craft different contingency plans in case your roadmap did not achieve the targeted outputs, outcomes and impacts.
Deploy your resources effectively and efficiently so as to make your dream come true.
Sixthly, how can you implement the plan?
The key difference between dreaming and achieving the dream is just one word – effective execution.
Execution includes capacity, ability and tenacity to act on your dream.
If you have a dream and you don’t take action, you’re building castles in the air.
On the other hand, if you take action but you don’t have a dream, you are merely running around the same castles.
It is not enough to be a dreamer, you need to be a doer too.
Go beyond execution and learn how to excel in your action.
Execution is about improving your action constantly so as to bring your dream closer to reality.
Last but not least, how can you measure and improve your progress in achieving your dream?
If you cannot measure the results, you cannot keep track of where you are and how you’re going to reach your desired destination.
Through effective measurement, you can find out if you are moving in the right direction and craft ways to improve your journey.
Even if you’re happy with the current state, you can research and find out if there is a better position that you should be in.
Look for gaps that are holding you back from serving a higher calling and fulfilling a worthier cause.
Then, follow the above 7 steps to take yourself and team to the desired destination.
Enjoy yourself as you breach one gap after another to take yourself to a higher level of achievement.
Go4It!
I hope this message will find a place in your heart.
By the way, I have also recorded other reflections.
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