WEEK 5 - YES, STILL MORE: FELICTER, FELICITA...

Rudi Denham's article is a good on-ramp to the strategic planning process. And some of it is actually sticking - Woohoo!

Looking at the plans listed, I chose the KPL. Now, it is not to pooh-pooh the others. However, of the ones I did look at, along with the UBC, I thought KPL presented well. OK, so I love graphic design and good layout even though my blog looks as dull as dishwater (and some of you have spiffed up your pages, I see... hmmm, gauntlet on the ground, what to do, what to do...). Given all the info KPL conveys, I think they struck a good balance. After all, yes, plans are a tool but if you are going to get the public to buy in (and that includes City Hall), first impressions are critical.

Next, my cynical brain started looking at the text. Not a lot of buzz words like the overuse of "excellence". Let's face it, no one will claim to aim for "just good enough service" or for developing a centre of mediocrity. To quote from The Music Man: "Watch your phraseology!" Plans which claim to improve, to offer superior service, increase whatever and not define how, well, I for one would like to know how: this is a plan after all not a political campaign. And what does something like "Enhanced research presence" even mean? Bigger dictionaries? Ref staff who can spin plates, play "Lady of Spain" on an accordion while finding your answer? A cute paperclip popping up and offering help whenever a client uses the OPAC or a database... oh, sorry, bad flashback.

So, KPL's mission in the community? One, it's connects, period. Oh, sure, they pad a bit but the words are so encompassing that their simplicity leaves it open to everything. I like that. Economical. Two, KPL is flexible as well as attentive which could be seen as counterproductive, i.e., to value can be seen as to keep what is but it also means that it cares what its users value. It's a mission statement vague enough to imply noble goals without saddling itself with anything too concrete that can bite them in the butt down the road.

I think the vision statement makes it clear. Be a community focal point, be a versatile gathering place and be a trusted source. All of these reinforce the connectivity hinted at in the mission statement as well as the flexibility and the caring/valuing of people.

Their key strategic priorities develop from their mission, vision and value statements. I like the way they merge the three into five broad areas, using words and threads of thoughts from all three for an expository paragraph, presenting a goal for each and then elaborating on how they will move towards that goal. I think it is important that they use "move towards" as to oppose to something that suggests a finite end.

The choice of colours is good: red, gray and black convey some gravitas. Good use of white space, text is legible without being so large that I feel my age (King Township) or so small, it wimpers on the page (Nova Scotia). Stock photos are balanced and bright and yes, likely generic stock and a few we could do without but compare it with the Nova Scotia layout or the blocky King Township's: as lovely as the folks are, they're tiny and so what oomph they could offer is lost. Though I didn't choose the UBC either, look at the scale of their inhouse photos. That, my friends, is oomph.

The whole flowed, which is not to be sneezed at. This makes it easy to read and to understand - half the battle when targeting a wide range of readers. And the text is well written. There's a lot of backpatting going on but it's not aggressive.

What I didn't like: Well, most of it was in the layout. I would have moved the mission up and the vision down but that's because I'm learning about strategic plans in that order. To the average reader, maybe not so important, looks good to have the two "V" categories together? Who knows? Some of the goal lists seem a bit hit and miss in their order, unless KPL does want to imply to people in south west Kitchener that they are low on the list (see Dynamic Destinations).

I appreciate this exercize. Allowed me to let out my inner Simon Cowell. Now it's Rebecca's turn to go all Paula Abdul (or whoever is the latest anti-Simon on the show) on me on and help me see what I missed.