This was originally a Facebook post, but I’ve decided to share.

I have not stated in public which presidential candidate I support/will vote for, nor do I intend to.

However, I saw segment on The Daily Show from the other day that made fun of Bernie Sanders’ supporters’ general unwillingness to listen to criticisms of his plans. It made me think about the difference between goals and plans, and the fact that people generally put more emphasis on the latter.

I had a former drum student go on to march snare in a drum corp drumline. She told the story of how one day, on the bus, the drum staff didn’t allow the line to pick out a movie, saying that when they broke a drum score of 70 (out of 100), they could pick out a movie.

I remember thinking: that’s the incentive? They get to pick out a movie if they break 70? Such a low score – a low goal – to shoot for. Such a trivial, irrelevant incentive that probably won’t instill any sort of motivation. What a dumb plan.

Drumline staffs usually have goals for their lines and basic plans to achieve those goals throughout the season. The best lines have the best goals, the highest goals, and their plans are set to help the them acheive those goals. The lines outside of, say, the top 10 may or may not have the highest goals in mind (depending on the line), but they do have plans of attack to help them meet whatever goals they set. Medicore and low-level lines generally (but not all of them) have lower, “achievable” goals and their plans reflect those goals (some of them have higher goals, but it takes longer to achieve them, but their plans, however they’re configured, are still meant to push towards those goals).

Regardless, most plans from staff to staff involve the same fundamentals embedded in the craft and the medium of the marching and music arts, and ALL plans need to change and adapt. The best laid plans need to adapt to the players they get, the rate of improvement, player chemistry, cohesion of the full ensemble, difficulty of the music, implementation of technique, etc. Additionally, new, lower, achieveable goals are set throughout the season while a staff works its drumline towards the ulimate goals, whatever they may be.

This is paralleled in politics. Plans have to change and adapt. No presidential candidate is going to execute their plans in the exact way they envision them. They’re going to change. They’ll *have* to change. Adaptation is essential. The *goals* of a candidate is more important, as their goals determine their plans, how they adapt their plans, and even what they’re willing to compromise on.

What knowing their prospective plans helps us do, however, is get a sense of how they plan on starting their work, what their assessment of the current government and financial status is, and how they might go about working with others.

Okay, I’m crawling back into my cave, now.