OPUS is an acrostic which packs a colossal punch, a great weapon to ward off disengagement. It was developed by Chet Scott of Built to Lead (www.builttolead.com). Understanding OPUS will open your eyes, but authoring your OPUS will give you vision. This distinction yields huge dividends in your life.
Would you like to hear more about OPUS?
OVERARCHING VISION
This is your Big Dream. Remember Martin Luther King’s “I have a dream” speech? Notice he didn’t say I have a plan. Plans don’t inspire, dreams do. He spoke in pictures which lodged deep into the heart’s and minds’ of his listeners. Notice he said, “I have a dream” not “We have a dream.” Yet, millions of people have listened in on his dream.
This is the power of having a clear dream. The world wants to listen in on someone who has clarity. When you write yours don’t worry about other people’s opinions. Discover your own melody line. Try one paragraph to get you started.
PURPOSE
This is the defining statement of your work. Most artists autograph their masterpieces. Surprisingly, art critics don’t need to read the name of the artist. They know his or her identity, simply based on the subtle nuances of shade, technique, color choice, style and medium. Likewise, the defining statement of your work should be so distinguishable that people who observe your work should be able to attribute it back to you. Your purpose (one sentence) is the autograph of your work.
UNIFYING STRATEGIES
These are the big buckets of productive actions necessary for you to achieve your Over-arching Vision. Most people have too many strategies in theory, but never implement them in reality. The brilliance is discovered in simplifying and the genius in decluttering. Your unifying strategies (aim for 3-5, not 35 like most people) keep you focused and on the right path to make sure you arrive at your Big Dream.
SCORECARD FOR SIGNIFICANCE
This is how you know you’re hitting your target. Think baby steps to your Big Dream. If unifying strategies are understood as the categories, then scorecard for significance can be thought of as the content within those categories.Think metrics, but much deeper than surface topics like revenue or profit. Your scorecard for significance is a compilation of the specific milestones unique to each unifying strategy. (Aim for identifying 3-5 milestones for each unifying strategy.)
