On May 25, 1961, President John F. Kennedy gave a speech in which he proclaimed an ambitious goal: “I believe that this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to the earth.” On July 20th, 1969, the U.S. accomplished this goal.
How were we able to accomplish such an improbable feat? From the very beginning, President Kennedy mapped out how we would pull this off. He said in the original speech before Congress:
“I believe we possess all the resources and talents necessary. But the facts of the matter are that we have never made the national decisions or marshalled the national resources required for such leadership. We have never specified long-range goals on an urgent time schedule, or managed our resources and our time so as to insure their fulfillment.”
On September 18, 2001, President George W. Bush announced that we would pursue Osama Bin Laden and bring him to justice for the tragic events of September 11th. President Obama vowed to continue the hunt for the terrorist mastermind. On May 1, 2011, Osama Bin Laden was killed by the U.S. military.
How was the U.S. military able to find one man on a planet of 6.5 billion people?
In his speech to the nation, President Obama said: “And so shortly after taking office, I directed Leon Panetta, the director of the CIA, to make the killing or capture of bin Laden the top priority of our war against al Qaeda.”
Within 10 years of stating incredibly difficult goals and then making the changes necessary to accomplish them, the United States put a man on the moon and brought Osama Bin Laden to justice.
I have heard it said that we overestimate what we can accomplish in one year, but we underestimate what we can accomplish in 5 years.
What do you plan to accomplish in 10 years?
I doubt any of us will be trying to get to the moon or capture a terrorist, but what good do you hope to bring to the world? How do you hope to accomplish this?
