Become the Guide

You have followed the path back to your trailhead.  What did you see? What did you learn? What do you want to share? Now is your chance to be the guide and show other the path.

Celebrate

What did you accomplish?  It’s probably a lot.  Often times at the end of a long project participants are tired of the project or already moved on to the next one. You and your team and partners need to take time to celebrate your successes.  Do a recap with someone not involved and see what they say about the project.  You might be surprised by their reaction.  It’s important to tell others about what you have accomplished.  If you do not advocate for yourself, likely no one else will

What were the challenges

What went wrong?  What were the challenges that you didn’t expect?  Its important to be open and honest even about the things that went wrong.  Its helpful to learn from other’s mistakes and prevent repeating them yourselves.

We stand on the shoulders of giants

Ultimately we are building off of past successes of others.  Acknowledge those who helped make this possible and those who came before you.  Very few things are truly the result of individuals.

Share what you learned

Become a leader and be the guide for others.  Now that you have gone through the D&L Data Driven Sustainability Process share it with others.  The next time through on the same project make sure that you implement the improvements and try to do a better job.  Also remember the different ways you can share information about the process and project including staff lunch and learns, blog posts, newsletters, webinars, and conference presentations.

Ready to go back out on the trail again?  Remember that this is a process and not a final destination.  So when you are ready to redo a project or go through the next cycle make sure to start back at the beginning and choose your trail.