ASP Retreat I

As a leader, I had the privilege of being part of a life-changing experience. An extraordinary vehicle for open discussion with our team about what we want out of our work. The vulnerability, the honesty, the sharing helped us get a clear vision. Finally, watching a young DDS's efforts pay huge emotional and monetary dividends.

Janet, Laura and I had a ball! That will be a family vacation we will remember fondly. What great beauty and adventure. We look forward to joining you again!

The Salmon River Float Trip & Seminar were done with your usual excellence, Frazer. We had a lot of fun, while learning and relaxing. My wife, Ann, considers it one of the best vacations we've ever taken! We will definitely join you again soon.

The Applied Strategic Planning process has given us and the rest of the MDA staff the opportunity to see where we need to go in the future. I speak for the entire staff when I state that we are excited about what is in store for the future of the MDA. Thanks for your superior work to provide this plan to lead the Association forward.

We found the (co-diagnosis) tape immensely valuable in helping us to modify our co-diagnosis process to a more effective level. The first two co-diagnoses we did following the tape were large, complex cases, and they went beautifully. The people are scheduled to begin treatment.

Thank you seems to be such an inadequate statement for the time we spent with you (during the New Patient Experience Practicum). For me it personally answered a lot of questions, but created even more - as any good paradigm shift does. We can all look back at "watershed" experiences in our careers; this has been one for me. It's more than just the practical application of Bob Barkley, it's the philosophy alive! For that I am eternally grateful.

For me, the overall A.S.P. Series was a process that was long overdue for the USA Section. As I stated at Retreat II, this planning technique was entirely different from the others I was involved with. With our continued diligence, I have great faith that this will be of enormous benefit to the Section. In addition, it was a great learning experience for me personally. I believe this will make a difference to me in my practice and in the way I conduct my life.

My involvement in the Environmental Scan was most meaningful part from the retreats. Such work! However, what I learned about everything that will have an effect on the College, the profession of dentistry, and me personally was incredible. That and working with such an energetic, professional committee was a great reward.

For the College, this process set an agenda with a mission and goals for us to proceed in a productive and efficient manner. As we proceed, the Section should gradually strengthen and rise in prestige and influence. For me personally, it helped me to align and realign my life’s priorities. Professionally, it became a method of reexamining the way I conduct my practice and my professional goals.

The first retreat was a great intro to the ASP process and how it differed from other SP processes. It tied together the books we had read by Covey and Sinek, as well as the Organizational Health Survey and other resources you provided us to make sense of what we were going to do and to inspire us to exert the energy to get it done. The Values audit helped us define our core values and how to create a new Mission for the Section.

As we proceeded from the first retreat forward, it was exciting to take all our work and formulate a strategic business model, and then the integrated action plans to give us an actual roadmap and timetable for achieving our goals.

Thanks, Bob, for a wonderful life experience. I believe it will be valuable for the Section and for me personally.

"We have used R.L. Frazer & Associates for numerous strategic planning and emotional intelligence training projects with our operating companies through the years. At one point we had 3 different operating businesses and R.L. Frazer worked with all 3 companies. Each one of these businesses had their own unique size, scope, and market challenges. In each instance, the process we used could account for those differences and help us achieve a future of choice. We started using his firm in 2008 with one of our businesses, New Earth. New Earth became the largest organic composting business in the state of Texas using the framework of Applied Strategic Planning that Bob and firm teaches. I would highly recommend him and his team in this capacity."