Last month I wrote about how to define a vision for your creative practice. Visions are important because they define the end goal; they help you to understand where you are going. What they don’t do for you, however, is to tell you how to get there. That’s where a strategy comes in. Your strategy brings your vision down to earth and helps you to take action toward your goal.
So, how do you craft a strategy? Look at your vision. Identify the one, two or three major categories of work needed to make your vision a reality. Can it be four? Yes, but if you have too many more than that, you’ve gotten too far into the weeds. In the step after this one, you will define your strategic plan and plot your roadmap with all of the items you’ll need on your To Do list. For now though, think high level. For example, part of my vision for the year involves focusing on being a practicing artist and on making a new series of work. In order to make that happen, I have to make art. So, one of my strategies is “Re-establish Studio Practice” and I’ll define each of the discrete steps I need to take in order for that to happen. What will your priorities be for your creative practice this year?
I’ve made a template that you can use to help you identify your strategy. Fill in your vision for this year from the vision template you filled out last month. Then, use the orange boxes to capture your strategy or strategies. Ideally, your strategy statements will be short enough to fit in the darker orange header boxes. You can use the lighter boxes to list the major phases of work under each strategy if those are already coming to mind. Otherwise, you can leave them blank for next month’s strategic planning and roadmap work.
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