• Coach’s Conundrum #4
4. “It’s Better to have a Big Goal and Miss It, Than to have No Goal and Hit It.”
This is sort of the play-on-words, but there is a big truth behind it. We accomplish more by trying to work a plan than we do by having no plan. Moving forward is better than moving backwards. Forward motion is preferred to no movement, at all. So it is better to be a dreamer with a plan than to be a realist with no options. You could call these two styles: Possibility Thinking or Impossibility Thinking.
I have seen this in children’s ministry.
To just get by, to do the minimum, doing as little as possible is not a winning plan. Being practical might mean you take “no risks,” which can limit the possibilities of thinking outside the box. “Without goals, and plans to reach them, you are like a ship that has set sail with no destination.” (Fitzhugh Dodson)
To dream bigger and take some calculated risks is what being visionary is all about. It is beginning of calling “what is not,” “what will be.” At first it might be seeing what others cannot see. It grows into trusting God. It requires some strategic planning. It could stretch your resources to accomplish more than what you thought possible.
It leaves room for God to intervene and provide. You take your team with you. It is better to fail at trying to accomplish something bigger than it is accomplish the minimum, and leave no legacy. “Shoot for the moon, even if you miss, you’ll land amongst the stars.” (Les Brown)
Coach’s Conundrums This is a new series: my collection of pithy principles that need some explanation. The implementing of these conundrums could alter your paradigm for children’s ministry or influence the way you approach kids.
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