Strategic planning

Instead of going to work at The Corporation today, I spent the day in an all-day board meeting for The Nonprofit. People at work probably thought I was taking a day off to play, but it was nine hours of heavy thought, deep conversation and pastries!

I really enjoy our board meetings. They're great opportunities to step back from my day-to-day duties at The Corporation, use some of the skills I acquired at business school and to think strategically about an organization I care about. The other board members are really interesting folks - entrepreneurs, CEOs, academics, non-profit leaders - and each brings a different perspective to our conversations. It's also not a shy board and we are pretty successful at avoiding group-think.

But it can be draining to think about our vision for 2011 and 2021 all day. Add to that the fact that we're fed pastries and bread and caffeine all day, I kind of have a headache. I had originally planned to hit the gym after the meeting, but I am way too exhausted...