Danger-sign checklist.

Focusing too much on immediate results at the expense of thinking long term? John Graham, president of Graham Communications, Quincy, Massachusetts, provides 10 danger signs that you're immersing yourself and your organization in short-term thinking:

1. Insufficient planning, lots of talk, no follow-up, and inconclusive meetings.

2. Scrambling for sales through discounts or sales contests instead of developing, implementing, and managing a carefully crafted prospecting program.

3. Frantically jumping from one activity to another without a deliberate plan.

4. Operating in a constant state of crisis, making it impossible to stay on track.

5. Making decisions based solely on what the competition is doing.

6. Lacking knowledge about member perceptions and preferences.

7. Taking half-baked action because of failure to anticipate the results of an idea, program, or activity.

8. Confusing tactics, such as the design of a direct-mail piece, with strategy--why the piece is being done and who should receive it.

9. Failing to fully understand branding, which is much more than a snazzy logo and tagline.

10. Making mistakes on a consistent basis.