Happy National Implementation Month!!

This year’s National Implementation Month is the 5th annual celebration of getting things done! Half a decade and still no Presidential Declaration? Odd, I know. Maybe someday Rural Resurrection will get that call.

Conceived from of my earlier articles entitled, “Implementation, the Lost Step in Comprehensive Planning“, the idea of focusing on implementation festered into a month dedicated to it. The article looked into how few comprehensive plans are utilized to their fullest extent. Why go through the arduous work to develop a comprehensive plan if you aren’t going to use it on a regular basis?

That’s where National Implementation Month steps in. It dedicates a full month each year to review your community’s plans. It’s time to set aside time to develop a work schedule toward the implementation of action items to the goals set forth within it.

Why January?

But why January? One step outside during this frigid month does not conjur thoughts of getting things done. Yet so many of us start with new year’s resolutions because this time of year is full of energy and a renewed desire to get things done. So should your community.

This first month of the year is also ideal as many of us in the upper Midwest are holed up inside trying to take off the chill while dreaming of warmer days. Why not use those daydreams to figure a plan to move forward with implementation activities? Set up those dominos now so that when warmer weather returns you can knock them all down.

Start Now

Yes, I do not have the power to declare an entire month as National Implementation Month. I don’t even have the power to declare such for the community that I work for. Maybe someday national recognition will happen. But for now, make National Implementation Month an event in your community. Gather others, pick out a goal from your planning documents, and make it happen!