Our July Quote of the Month comes from Norton Juster:

Just because you can never reach it, doesn’t mean it’s not worth looking for.

– Norton Juster

When we work with United Ways to become issue-focused, we ask them to select a bold goal related to their issue. For example, we recently worked with United Way of Skagit County (Burlington, WA) and they selected the bold goal of “By 2025, all Skagit children entering kindergarten are ready to learn.” Although I have tremendous faith and confidence in the staff and board of United Way of Skagit County to do incredible things (because they already have), it is highly likely they will never achieve their bold goal. However, if you were eavesdropping on the passionate discussion among the board and staff of United Way of Skagit County when selecting their bold goal, you would realize that they are absolutely committed to doing everything that can be done to achieve their bold goal. The board and staff of United Way of Skagit County realized they could have set a goal of 75%, 80%, or even 90% of Skagit children entering kindergarten ready to learn by 2025, and could have achieved that goal. But, their board and staff agreed that “By 2025, all Skagit children entering kindergarten are ready to learn” was a goal worth looking for.

If you have a quote you would like to share for our Quote of the Month, please let me know at gary@perspectives4uw.com