DEVELOPMENT
THE 5 YEAR STRATEGY FIRST STARTS WITH THREE PILLARS OF SUPPORT...
THE AUDACITY: If this sounds too far-reaching, or maybe somewhat radical, and toss in some impracticality, then I say that is a great start. I say this as I feel there isn’t anything worth having a vision for, worth having a plan for, a strategy, and doing, that is mundane, without inspiration, or less than challenging… that at the same time would indeed be rewarding.
THE PLAN: For certain, it will likely require a responsible amount of feasibility studies and intelligent and insightful research and planning. Some components may even require a level of proof-of-concept trials. For all the items, for certain, the first requirement focuses on utilizing the "first principle" and "simple process" planning. Any plan without a strategic strategy is nothing... garbage, and destined to failure. An insightful strategy, on the other hand, is focused on the desired outcome, with the least amount of effort and resources and that has a logical and detailed logistical implementation plan to support it; that it is clearly and firmly aligned for success.
THE STRATEGIES: Strategies, the mother of all successes. They can identify all the opportunities and a consensus of the desired outcome, and the vision. They can identify the optimal path making the best utilization of available resources and technologies. Strategies that can see the value and importance of how the three pillars are necessary to support one another, together, to support the ultimate desired outcome. To be clear, the pillars are there to support the strategy, and the pillars are supported by implementation plans. They all work together, and would likely fail if utilized independently. They work best with a detailed action schedule with target deadlines and milestones to bring it all together. But one component is suggested to be omnipresent at all levels to better the odds of success and that is to subscribe to “first principals” in all the processes. Simple focus on the outcome, what is the desired result, and hopefully in the year 2027 when Laguna Beach celebrates its 100th anniversary we all will have great cause for celebration.
CALL TO ACTION: The first step is to develop and extrapolate, simple yet bold new strategies for each of the areas as defined in the three pillars that support the overall strategy. With a short series of open forum moderated panel discussions, bring together a balanced and fair consensus within the community. Strategies would simply define the objective, complete with key implementation outlines, and milestones.