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Why do we call it the “ALARM” clock?  Why isn’t it the opportunity chronograph.  When the alarm sounds, we are called into action as though there is an emergency that is going to require mountains of effort and most of the day to resolve.  What if the “opportunity clock”, and the sound it makes stirs up and excitement that say, what does this make possible for God.  Giving us the freedom and power to chart a course to the full life.

Today we are talking about, what we call at our home Outpost, the plan A approach.

About three years ago we started really listen to ourselves apologizing to parents, rangers, and commanders for all the things that went wrong or didn’t go perfectly instead of celebrating all the things that went well.  We would open the night with an apology that the microphone didn’t work, the video wouldn’t play, or the computer wouldn’t boot.  Our first reaction was to make sure that we always had a back up plan or plan “B”.  Certainly, this help immensely.  We spoke load and clear, we brought props and printed out lesson plan.  All essential things to help the night go smoothly.  The problem was the atmosphere we had created was, “hey everyone, get ready to be let down, we are now going to our back up plan”.  Where this really became frustrating was during a COA or any other celebration.

One of the catalysts for the Plan A Approach was from a local school orchestra director.  He said, there are not perfect performances, only the perception of a perfect performance.

We took this perspective and started applying it everywhere.  We wanted every Royal Ranger and every parent to have the perception that everything we did at the Outpost was going exactly how we planned, and when it didn’t we would just switch to plan A.  It has been nothing short of amazing.  The boys come excited on Wednesday night and leave looking forward to the next “Plan A” evening.  When returning from an event the boys don’t lead with statements like, “it was fun, but %%&^& was closed”, or “it was good but @#*&#@ didn’t work.”  They come back with the excitement that you should have after every adventure and the benefit of having grown in their friendship and camaraderie.  As a matter of fact, many times switching to plan A has resulted is some of the greatest adventures.

One benefit that we didn’t expect was the new level of devotion that “Plan A” cultivated from our leadership.  It’s so much fun to be part of Plan A and a team that strives for excellence.

The plan a mentality forces you to fully commit. Researchers have shown that when you make backup plans you greatly reduce the likelihood that you’ll achieve your original goal.
The mirror existence of Plan B can undermine plan A.
When you move to full commitment providence move too.

(Feeding of the 5000 Story)

Plan A Action Plan:

• You have to re-frame you’re thinking using the plan a scaffolding.
• Start every meeting delineating your scaffolding. Define when and how Plan A is used.
  • Where it has impacted our Outpost (169):
    • Wednesday night meetings
    • Dedication and Devotion of Leadership
    • COA’s
    • Rally’s
    • Calendar of Events
    • Commander’s Meetings
    • Merit Camp
    • Pass and Reviews
    • Camp Entrances
  • Debrief – after every event take a minute to see where plan A worked and where it broke down.
  • Be Ready

One lesson we all have learned about life it’s to expect the unexpected.

Life is a journey, and it’s along that journey that we learn, grow, and gather the skills we need to reach the finish line.  So, when things don’t go your way, just switch to plan A.