How does your 2019 retrospective set the stage for your 2020 journey?

In thirty days, we will be staring at another set of New Year’s Resolutions. Lofty expectations we set for that better version of ourselves, our teams, and our communities. Before we chart the course for our 2020 journey, we might do well to review what we have done and where we have been over the past eleven months.

Followers of this blog have read about my Six Fs of life , Seven Rs for purpose and growth, and Eight Success Tips.

As you, your team, and your community look to the coming year, consider The Six Ds for an End-of-the-Year Review.

• Delve into what you have attempted to do; what you have accomplished; and where you have come up short. List these so all can see.
• Describe each item. Once the list has been established (at least an initial list), make sure each item is specific. Make a list as to what, why, when, who, and how. No discussion or debate yet…just seek to paint a clear picture of what is on the list. Ask as many authentic questions as needed to gain clarity.
• Discuss the above list with your team. What worked? What came up short? What resources were missing? What strengths helped? What challenges developed? At this point, all you want is understanding of what has transpired. It is not time yet to critically appraise the items.
• Debate Once the list has been completed, open the floor for an evidence-based debate. Not a time for call-outs or political pyrotechnics. You needed reasoned give-and-take. For instance, why did certain challenges develop? Who was instrumental in moving the project forward? Where does the team or community need to do more work?
• Digest. Once you have exhausted the above steps, take a recess. It could be for an hour, a day, a week, or whatever time period fits your team’s needs. Homework: Before you return, each member reviews the material and comes back with questions, clarifications, additions, and/or deletions.
• Do it again. Keep refining your list until you have a consensus that your list accurately portrays what you accomplished this year, where you came up short, and where you want to go in 2020.

Video Recommendation for the week: Speak Truth to Power

In this brief (183 seconds) clip from a longer podcast episode, community activist and leader, Linda Lanier, shares how the reflective leader must “speak truth to power.” She helps us see and hear how the “unspeakable” needs to be spoken. Think of steps 3 and 4 above (Discuss and Debate).  Your team needs to speak exactly what it is or is not doing.  Unvarnished, yet clear.

Make it a great week and HTRB has needed.

Stay tuned for my new book to be released in early 2020:
Roxie Looks for Purpose Beyond the Biscuit.
Well, actually, my dog Roxie gets top billing on the author page for this work. Without her, there would be no story. In the meantime, check out her blog.

And you can still order:

• My latest book, Community as a Safe Place to Land (2019), (print and e-book) is available on  More information (including seven free podcast episodes that spotlight the seven core values highlighted in the book) at www.stevepiscitelli.com.
• Check out my book Stories about Teaching, Learning, and Resilience: No Need to be an Island (2017). It has been adopted for teaching, learning, and coaching purposes.  I conducted (September 2019) a half-day workshop for a community college’s new faculty onboarding program using the scenarios in this book. Contact me if you and your team are interested in doing the same.  The accompanying videos would serve to stimulate community-building conversations at the beginning of a meeting.

My podcasts can be found at The Growth and Resilience Network®.

You will find more about what I do at www.stevepiscitelli.com.

©2019. Steve Piscitelli
The Growth and Resilience Network®