Mission Creep.

I came across this term in a coaching session last year. My client was struggling to keep up with the requirements and demands of her job. She felt lost in the busyness of her work and lagging in the achievement of her goals. That’s what happens when we are too busy as a result of small foxes creeping into the original agenda of our lives. With time they grow into huge wolves that threaten to maul us. It is like taking six big dogs for a walk. Each is on a leash and wants to go in a different direction. They will easily overpower you especially if you are skinny like me hehe. Sooner or later they will break from the leash and wreak havoc. God forbid they attack those Masai goats I see in my hood. Kwisha mimi. It would be poor me vs the moran and that wouldn’t end well.

I like the army’s definition of mission creep. It is the gradual shift in objectives during a military campaign, often resulting in unplanned long-term commitment. It is also the gradual broadening of the original objectives of a  mission or organization. Now I have a word to describe how I feel when mob things compete for my attention and I seem to be giving in.

I agree life is dynamic and we live in a volatile and agile world. But is it possible to avoid mission creep and remain flexible? What do you guys think? What warrants a change in objectives? Consolidation might be how we keep the balance. It is defined as, “combining a number of things into a single more effective or coherent whole. “

This year has started busy and it’s exciting for me. My hopes are up and I’m calling things that are not as if they are. I hope that cyke doesn’t fade away with all those new year’s resolutions that are struggling to stay alive for many, now that we are at the end of the seventy days of January hehe.

With each breakthrough comes a higher demand for our time and other opportunities catch our eye. So beware of the breakthroughs that come your way folks. Celebrate and maximize them but be on the lookout for other seeming opportunities that may derail your original mission. My last trip to the Masai mara during the wildebeest migration paints this picture well. The wildebeests and zebras were headed to the Kenyan side. They needed to cross the Mara river because the grass was indeed greener on the other side.

As they rushed into the Mara from Serengeti in Tanzania so did the carnivores, hot on their heels. At some point, they looked sandwiched between the lions and hyenas behind them and the other carnivores waiting for them across the river. Just like the wildebeest pursuing their opportunity to stay alive, we would be well advised to watch out for the jackals and lions that are attracted by our prize or goal.

Shifting your objectives by adding other things that come up could be destructive. If we allowed those carnivores (sudden additional and seemingly urgent priorities) to get too close then we might not get to the river and cross over to the promised land. Our lives and mission in life risk being cut short when we take on too much and sacrifice consolidation in the name of being open and flexible. Even a ship sways in the tide but not too far from the anchor.

I think this is what makes success hard to handle. We get excited at things going our way and we start wishing and looking for more. I do believe it’s harder to manage success than it is failure. Failure tends to come with limited options so we have no choice but to focus on the one or two choices available to us.

I’m learning to evaluate what to say yes to. That helps to keep mission creep at bay. A practical way is by writing my to-do list in my diary and ticking it at the end of the day. If I will have achieved at least three things then I consider that day well spent. Sometimes there is nothing to tick and that means I wasted time. But it’s ok to have a nothing day once in a while. I have a friend for whom Monday is her nothing day. Her week begins on Tuesday. I countered that it’s not a nothing day if it’s important enough to keep over a long time. There must be something that she’s getting on Mondays that makes the rest of the week productive. So folks you can call that day anything as long as it moves you towards your mission and keeps the hyenas at a distance.

2023 will be a good year. so be calm and achieve your mission.