The word that changed my view of everything
President Kennedy during his speech at Rice University. For over 25 years, I had the opportunity to teach a large number of university students in a variety of business-related topics. Like any decent business professor, I taught the concepts related to effective planning, including the concept of SMART goals. SMART was an acronym meaning that a “good” goal was Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, and Time-based. I never questioned the textbooks, and since the concept seemed to make perfect sense––at least on its surface––I kept teaching it year after year...until “it” happened. For whatever reason, I was listening to the speech John F. Kennedy delivered to a large crowd at the stadium of Rice University on September 12, 1962. I’ve heard this speech a number of times because, as a big fan of the Apollo Program, I was always inspired by its overreaching passion. But on this day, a single word from the middle of the speech resonated with me––a word that has forever c...