Potential

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Author Message Ralph Liebing, RA, CSI Senior Member Username: rliebing Post Number: 1012 Registered: 02-2003 Posted on Wednesday, July 08, 2009 - 06:44 am:    09-0708 POTENTIAL by Ralph Liebing, RA, CSI Cincinnati, OH She sat in her high chair merrily eating baked apple one chunk at a time, giggling and gesturing with each. She was in a good mood-- she sang, teased, gyrated, colored, chattered, and well, was just a delight. She also sings in Spanish, counts to 15, watches PBS and tells her grandfather he’s being “silly”. She’s my 2-year old granddaughter. Then and after I wondered-- what will she turn out to be, since she is so sharp and aware at 2-- i.e., What is her potential? What has the Good Lord planned and put before her to do and accomplish? But you know, we all have potential—young and old. It never runs out! No matter our situation, we always have the potential to be more, better or different; or to venture in new direction and do more and new things not thought of before. We may not feel like doing it, but the simple start will takes us on a path unforeseen or untried before. Sure, there is a risk, but then it hasn’t been too long ago you crossed a street-- talk about risks!!! Potential is NOT Strategic Planning; it is what lies beyond that adventure. In planning, we set goals, and the strategize how to reach those goals. Potential on the other hand is “way-out-there”, usually unplanned, but which comes to us any way. We can’t plan potential; we can only be surprised by it; realize, acknowledge and pick up on potential-- we do things we never dreamed of doing before! Think now—over the course of your life what things have you done that you didn’t plan to do, or which came to you as pure opportunity-- a fork in the road; a new direction; an inspiration from another, or even from a small piece of book text; a success story out of circumstances similar to yours; something “out of the blue”! Maybe it is pure inspiration, a need, a perceived gap to fill, but where does it come from, and how does it get to and into us since we don’t plan it? Is it purely cases of “knocking opportunity”? Now again, there is risk, but not necessarily high or dangerous risk. Perhaps just embarrassment if you come up short; or just not getting to where you want to go—but nonetheless you took the time to try and the results were as they were. “Nothing ventured; nothing gained”. And therein lies the crux of potential-- if you don’t try, you’ll never know if you could have succeeded! What is CSI’s, and SCIP’s potential-- apart and as allies? What can either or both do that they are not doing now? What lies outside current planning and the “oh-we-tried-that-and-it-didn’t-works? What are the singular or collective “pipe dreams”? And the toughest one of all, what could possibly be out there that had not been brought forward as yet? May we suggest that the potential lies in part in the members-- those we see the organizations with different eyes, different perspective, and with thoughts not yet exposed to organizational scrutiny? And, indeed, what may have seen the meager glimmer of light so far, but has not been explored to see what it can do, or what its POTENTIAL really is! You don’t give anything up to explore potential [but you miss a lot if you don’t try]--you try to find it and trigger it! You try to come to the point of saying, “Hey, I wonder what would happen if I did this”; “What if I try that”? And be ready to be amazed! The road and railroad tracks don’t end at the horizon; neither does my granddaughter’s potential! Nor that of CSI and SCIP!!! Lord only knows! Maybe you, I, CSI and SCIP will all find out sometime long before “the girl”-- my blossoming granddaughter-- reaches her FULL potential [and with her spunk, now, and her spunkier and brilliant Mom, she WILL find hers-- and then some]! How about the rest of us?