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“Hope is not a strategy.”
The quip came quickly after I offered some semblance of a timeline for a project in the early days of my career, and I’ve never forgotten it. While I can’t remember the source (though it’s likely attributable to the sage wisdom of a U.S. Army noncommissioned officer), it’s an adage I adopted as my default professional position from that day forward.
In the decades since that rightful admonishment, I pushed hope from my vocabulary at work and anchored on precision. Replacing phrases like “I hope …” with “I will …” brought clarity, instilled confidence and set a foundation for success in teams across government, technology, agriculture and media.
Those teams accomplished great things with precision, clarity and focus. But today in the wake of America’s 250th birthday and decades after being told “hope is not a strategy,” I’m bringing hope back. This time not as a strategy or replacement for precision but as an intentional way to communicate and inspire others (and myself) to make the seemingly impossible possible.
Merriam-Webster defines hope as “… desire accompanied by expectation of obtaining what is desired or belief that it is obtainable.” That is the very essence of what every good vision should engender across a team. A great vision paints a picture of the seemingly impossible and offers an optimistic view of the future that with hard work could be possible. Combined with goals that define timelines and actions, a hope-filled vision paired with disciplined execution is among the most powerful forces demonstrated throughout history.
Imagine the hope present in that Philadelphia room 250 years ago when members of the Second Continental Congress signed the Declaration of Independence and set the foundation for the great nation we have today. After much debate and discernment, the drafters adopted these hope-filled words, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”
The Declaration continued with clarity and, most importantly, a call to action. It defined the right of the people to institute a new government and organize it in a way “most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.”
The founders didn’t see hope as a strategy. They saw hope as one part of the equation for change. Hope plus action creates outcomes, and they used that framework to conceive and construct a better government to serve its people.
For far too long, I resisted using the word hope in business and leadership. It felt too soft, too emotional. But today, as the final fireworks of America’s 250th birthday celebrations fade, I am struck by the power of hope and resolve to make it a more intentional part of my life at work, in our community and at home.
Hope is the spirit that unites us. It is a key ingredient in innovation, inspiring teams to dream bigger and imagine the impact of a new product, medicine or solution. Hope is a lifeline that enables us to keep going in the toughest times, and it is the one thing we all have regardless of industry, vocation, politics or place.
In the wake of America’s 250th birthday, let’s all resolve to restore hope, not as a replacement for strategy but as a key ingredient that gives strategy its purpose and inspires action. Hope is not a strategy, but when combined with action, it can change the world.•
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Frazier is president of IBJ Media.
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