Plan to Obtain Your 2009 B.A.G. Now

Believe it or not it’s October, which often means the start of the, most challenging, last quarter of the season.  From the pressure of achieving your goals for the year within the last quarter to a flurry of holiday gatherings, this quarter will go by in no time and potentially leave you unprepared for 2009.  In most businesses and jobs, waiting for new years to determine your new years resolution is too late!

So, before you get caught up in the holiday hoopla and business woes, take time now to figure out your B.A.G. and how you are going to get it!

B.A.G. you say?

Big
Audacious
Goal

By applying the following enterprise architecture framework action items to your IT group, business or personal B.A.G., these actions will help you begin to plan on how you will obtain your B.A.G. in 2009.

1. Define Your B.A.G.
   First, look beyond 2009.  What is your long term vision?  What do you believe you can achieve in 3 years?  What is your current state that can be altered or improved in 2009?  What metrics can you define and measure now so you can determine if you have made progress in 2009?
2. Determine What is In Your B.A.G. Today
   Jaime, what do you mean by “what’s in my B.A.G.”?  Basically, you need to understand the current state of people (skills) and tools (technology) that is in your B.A.G. today to help determine what needs to change to obtain the target 2009 B.A.G.
3. Identify What Needs to Be In Your B.A.G By End of 2009
   What types of skills and technology need to be part of your B.A.G. at the end of the year to show success?  You will need to define how you will provide the right skills and technology is in your B.A.G. to show success.
4. Outline The Transition Plan
   To get from the B.A.G. you have today to your future one, you need a transition plan that should consist of projects, training and any recruiting you need to do to get from 2008 to 2009.  This will become your 2009 roadmap to deliver on.

Once you know where you are today (your current state) and where you want to go (your target state) you can begin to pull together a roadmap to build the B.A.G. of your dreams.  Santa won’t be able to deliver this to you, so what are you waiting for?

1. Define Your B.A.G.
   First, look beyond 2009.  What is your long term vision?  What do you believe you can achieve in 3 years?  What is your current state that can be altered or improved in 2009?  What metrics can you define and measure now so you can determine if you have made progress in 2009?
2. Determine What is In Your B.A.G. Today
   Jaime, what do you mean by “what’s in my B.A.G.”?  Basically, you need to understand the current state of people (skills) and tools (technology) that is in your B.A.G. today to help determine what needs to change to obtain the target 2009 B.A.G.
3. Identify What Needs to Be In Your B.A.G By End of 2009
   What types of skills and technology need to be part of your B.A.G. at the end of the year to show success?  You will need to define how you will provide the right skills and technology is in your B.A.G. to show success.
4. Outline The Transition Plan
   To get from the B.A.G. you have today to your future one, you need a transition plan that should consist of projects, training and any recruiting you need to do to get from 2008 to 2009.  This will become your 2009 roadmap to deliver on.

Once you know where you are today (your current state) and where you want to go (your target state) you can begin to pull together a roadmap to build the B.A.G. of your dreams.  Santa won’t be able to deliver this to you, so what are you waiting for?

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