I happily spent this morning in my office getting my thoughts organized and recorded (on my office whiteboard) for a major work project, on tap for when I return from vacation. It feels good to start 2011 with a plan, even if it’s incomprehensible to anyone except me. This whiteboard hangs directly across my office from my desk, so I look at it all day long. I wipe it clean maybe six times a year, then put a plan up for the next phase of work, and then erase things until I feel that the project has worked its way to completion. It feels good to erase stuff, though my staff gets nervous when they come in and see a blank whiteboard. That means I’m plotting something, and it’s probably nefarious. So here’s wishing you and yours all best in 2011, and here’s hoping that you, too, have a plan for the year. If you don’t have a plan, then may I recommend an approach that served me well through the first decade of my professional life, summarized most eloquently and elegantly as follows:

Complicate.
Obfuscate.
Deny Involvement.
Blame Doug.

Either way, tomorrow comes, things get done, and hopefully people have fun and learn something while they’re doing it. Happy New Year!