Strategic Planning

Last week the entire Seventh Generation staff headed to Trapp Family Lodge
in a Stowe, Vermont, for our annual two day retreat. (The Trapp family is the same one of Sound of Music fame.) The Lodge is a frequent destination for Seventh Gen meetings. It sits high upon a wonderful hill, giving you the impression that the world is at your door. Hundreds of acres of forest provide trails for hiking, snow shoeing or cross country skiing that wind through some of Stowe’s most amazing wilderness.

The theme of our retreat was a question: What does it mean to be an owner of our company?

On a mostly sunny late afternoon last week, Peter Senge
and I crossed paths at Trapp Family Lodge in Stowe, where he was vacationing with his family, and I was attending a management retreat. As frequent readers of the Inspired Protagonist know, I’m a huge fan of Peter’s. During the conversation he shared two thoughts on strategic planning that resonated with me since that’s what I was in Stowe trying to do.