Sometimes “children’s stories” carry a salient message (or two) that we initially miss when reading the story to our children.

Even so, once these stories are embedded into our life-culture, reflecting on them when we are older can remind us of some very basic and yet critically important principles.

There is a crucial lesson that is highlighted in the famous story of “Alice in Wonderland” penned by Lewis Carrol. The dialogue between Alice and the infamous Cheshire cat follows, on point:

One day Alice came to a fork in the road and saw a Cheshire cat in a tree. “Which road do I take?” she asked.

“Where do you want to go?” was his response.

“I don’t know,” Alice answered.

“Then,” said the cat, “it doesn’t matter.”

The above dialogue illustrates the obvious point that identifying a clear understanding of the association’s core objectives is a crucial – and first – step for the association board. It is equally important that everyone on the board – and to the degree possible, in the community – know the objectives as well – and can answer the question when asked,

“Where do you want to go?” [said the Cheshire Cat]

Knowing our present objective is essential!