I mentioned previously that we're doing fiscal year planning. For me, this is always exciting because it's all about what *could* be. We get to think big thoughts, go out on a limb, and then put together real plans. It's a lot of fun.

It's always a challenge to get people to dedicate a big chunk of time for this type of planning. It's not that they don't want to do it. It's that there are so many other things going on: emails coming in, people calling, people knocking at the door, meetings (endless meetings), etc.

This year, I've decided that that we're going to take two days out of the office to focus on this. The first day will be a "dark" day - where everyone will have assigned areas to work on. I say "dark" because we'll be outside of the Microsoft campus where distractions should be at a minimum. People will be able to focus. The second day will then be a review of that work and pulling together a plan.

I'm looking forward to the focused time.