By Tucker Kats
“Plans are only good intentions unless they immediately degenerate into hard work.”
This quote by Peter F. Drucker, the late Austrian-American business author, testifies to the difficulty of sticking to our plans. Unfortunately for students, they have lots of projects they must plan for. But one of Grace College’s associate professors of engineering, David Winyard, believes that students can excel in their projects with the help of John Cesarone’s “Project Initiation Toolkit” system.
Cesarone will host a seminar explaining his system from 6 to 8 p.m. April 3 in McClain Auditorium. In preparation for the seminar, I sat down with Professor Winyard to discuss the seminar and how it could benefit students.
What is this event for, and is it open for anyone to come and listen?
It is open to everyone. I’ve had inquiries [about] whether people outside of the Grace community could attend. And my answer has been yes. It is helpful to plan and execute projects, and everyone does that. You’re doing it now, my friend. John Cesarone defines a project as something that you do once. It has a beginning and an end. Everyone does that. I trained as an engineer and learned nothing about this subject in my college education. You learn as you go; you pick things up. Having formal training on it is valuable. It’s not an exaggeration when I say it changed my working life.
What would you like students to know about this event, and why should they come?
This is not strictly for engineers. This is for anybody, and I would like them to know that with a little bit of structure, they can set and plan and achieve goals more efficiently if they come to this seminar and take it to heart. This will really have real, practical results.
How can students use what is said in the seminar outside of a school setting?
Every day you set out to do something; some things are small, some are big. Some things you set out to do in an afternoon, and others you set out to do over the next five or 10 years. Every student comes here, presumably with a plan to graduate. How are they going to get there? Your college education is a project. Students are the leaders of those projects. Students make their careers. That’s what the seminar is about.
What makes the seminar important to attend?
Every student here has goals, wants to make something of their lives, and this seminar will help that, whatever your major is, [whatever your] goals in life. Scripture tells us to work under the Lord. How are you going to work? How are you going to get things done? What are you going to make of your life? Again, a little bit of structure on how to get things done will go a long way.
Is there any other information that you would like to share?
I’ve been successful in my career, and looking back, I see it through the project toolkit. … Where did I fail to get things done? Now here I am. The idea of thinking in these terms is part of me now. I didn’t realize how this would change me. It’s been 20 some years since I heard John Cesarone’s presentation. Well, failure is going to happen, but it’s important to understand how failure happens and what to do to maximize your chances of success. Failure will happen no matter what you do; if you do the right thing, you increase your chances of success.
The Sounding Board 