Returning to Vantage Point after my recent “secondment” to the political arena, I expected to slide right back into business as usual. I thought I would pick up exactly where I left off.

Sure, I had a new desk. A few new colleagues. My role had changed… but how different could things really be? I had only been away for five months!

Don’t get me wrong. I knew I had learned a lot on my “sabbatical”. But it took me a few weeks to realize how much my perspective had changed. I found myself regularly questioning the status quo. Things that seemed so straightforward last year, I now have doubts about.

With fresh eyes, one thing was very obvious: we are doing way too much.

Maybe this new perspective is a result of being immersed in a national political campaign for more than six months. In that arena, there was no room for distraction. We were razor focused on our goal – on the finish line. Election Day would come whether we were ready or not. The stakes were high, and the stage was enormous. Every day mattered. Each person, and every activity, had to move us closer to success.

Vantage Point’s goals for 2012 are huge too. We’re writing a book. We’re starting a conversation with not-for-profit leaders across North America – and beyond. We’re sharing our transformational model of people engagement more widely than ever before. And we only have 6 months left to get it all done!

So, now it’s time for us to become laser focused on our core mission. Rather than trying to do everything, we must question – and stop doing – everything that isn’t mission-critical. We’re going to start saying no… in order to say yes.

We’d love your suggestions about what we should stop doing. And we have a few ideas of our own.

I hope you’ll chime in – and stay tuned!