#1 - WHAT do you want or need to accomplish?

What’s the mission? What’s the leader’s intent? What are the strategic decisions?

Knowing the desired outcome is always the first step.  It doesn’t need to be overly precise, but it does need to communicate a large enough target to shoot.

WHAT Examples:

• Host a fundraising tournament.
• Enjoy a family vacation to Disney World.
• Recover from a disruption of any kind.
• Grow an authentic and organized business.

#2 - WHY are you wanting or needing to accomplish this?

To create an informed crisis response plan?

To meet budget requirements for an annual fundraiser?

To be resilient in case of a business interruption?

Answering “WHY” is what transforms the project into a mission.

And missions are a needed ingredient to engage and inspire the entire organization to participate enthusiastically.

Take the “WHAT” answer and add “... in order to ....” to the end.  That becomes your “WHY.”

WHY Examples:

• Host a fundraising tournament … in order to … raise enough money to sustain and grow the organization for a full year, pay for a trip to Rome, feed hungry kids, etc.
• Enjoy a family vacation to Disney World … in order to … bond as a family through shared adventures, etc.
• Recover from a disruption of any kind … in order to … maintain viable patient care, staff employment, etc.
• Grow an authentic and organized business … in order to … provide for my family, serve others, successfully model best-practices to my kids, etc.

One of the more helpful forms that the Incident Command System (ICS) offers us is the ICS 201 Incident Briefing.