Picture this. You grab your family, tell them to pack their bags, jump in the car and head out on vacation. Hours into the ride, something dawns on you: You have absolutely no idea where you are going. You have no map, your spouse packed for warm weather and your kids for cold weather, you're not sure how long you are supposed to be gone, and you don't even know what direction you've been driving.

You pull the car over and think to yourself, "what am I doing?" With online travel sites, hotel reviews and GPS available, you had various resources at the tip of your fingers to plan an amazing vacation for your family. But, all you have accomplished is wasting time and money before you have to return home and go back to the drawing board.  

While this scenario may sound extreme, it's very similar to what plays out in many companies' population health management strategy, sometimes unfairly referred to as their wellness program. A common theme that I have seen emerging over the last 10 years is while the wellness industry is evolving at an amazing rate, organizations continue to implement programs with little or no planning and goal setting on the front end.