Original article published on Linkedin by Dustin Lanier, CPPO.
An end of year activity that is one of my rituals is my "Lifescape" calendar – inspired by a blog post I read ~9 years ago called "Wait, but Why?".
We only have four to five thousand weeks in our lives depending on your luck and genetics - and I think it is ok to remember that. I think it helps you be grateful with your time, and to make sure you are marking your path.
So I have a large spreadsheet that I have mapped through my life as far back as I can remember, with individual cells for weeks, and I color code it and annotate with comments so I can preserve the things that I think I should honor, and to be aware of the passage of time.
So what's marked on my most important list for 2024?
- We onboarded 10 new employees this year.
- We had eight significant wins in the market and onboarded scores of new clients overall - We created a new premium client service model that is a new core of our approach to service.
- We finally perfected our resource tracking process which lets us be incredibly proactive on running our team in a "Work from Anywhere" model.
- We built and deployed a new ai platform for our team to develop staff skills in direct procurement capacity, and will be piloting it with clients in 2025.
- We were awarded in the NASPO Acquisition Support Services re-solicitation(s) (twice! :) ) and were honored for our growth with on-stage recognition during the NASPO Exchange Supplier lunch in the Spring.
- My oldest graduated with a Masters (and joined our team!), I started running again and finished the Cap 10k as an annual commitment, and I actually did a couple of vacations this year (shocking!)
Entering now the year that will be our 15th at Civic, I never lose the astonishment that Civic works like it does - and that so many people have found their success in what we have here, and that as a team we provide a service that customers need.
I don't take it for granted, and I will work for it every day. It's not always easy, but life isn't about easy, it's about purpose, and persistence.
This year I want to really capitalize on our momentum that was evident throughout the end of the Fall, and optimize how we work so that we are a strong and sustainable entity that supports public procurement authentically and with passion.
And I’ll try to take a couple of vacations this year as well.
After all, you can Wait, but Why?
