If we only look for the open straight road, we are likely doomed to remain in the flat terrain. However, if we take a path that includes switchbacks, our chances of reaching higher ground and gaining perspective are greater. Straight roads allow us to cover more distance. Switchbacks provide us access to the viewpoints.
Have you ever considered how the English alphabet appears when viewed from above? Once considered, we have added depth and dimension to our deliberations. Sometimes it is not the answers but the questions that have the greatest impact on our journey.
Are we trying to engage customers, or are we assisting them to navigate a journey? Can it be both? Is it often one versus the other? Should we write off the organization if the fundraising team does not align with our expectations? Or do we recalibrate and focus on the impact that the programs deliver to those who it serves? Should we call off the expedition because of the behavior of one team member? If it is dangerous and jeopardizes health and safety, perhaps we must. If the team member brings a different approach, perhaps we can find another point of convergence to bring us closer to our collective goal.
Seth Godin’s blog post put it more definitively.
Once you begin sprinting in a cycling race, the rules dictate that you must hold your line to the finish. In practice, this makes sense. However, add a pack of cyclists generating 2,000 watts of power and moving at 40+ mph, and the realities suggest the group moves organically. However, if a rider moves erratically or intentionally endangers others, officials are supposed to relegate the rider to last place in the sprinting group (or disqualify them). The reality is that almost every large sprint contains movements worthy of relegation. The reality is that the rules get applied haphazardly.
How we navigate the reality of our work and the proposed guidelines is up to us. Our character is defined by both our results and how we navigate our work.
Want to test your organization or individual values? Consider the lottery test. If you win the jackpot payout, would you remain true to your core values, or would you “exchange” or “upgrade” your guiding principles to something perceived as in alignment with your new financial stature?
We build trust and loyalty by stating what we believe and then acting consistently with those beliefs. Loyalty and authenticity cannot be purchased; they are earned.
If you want people to sign up for a unique journey, being honest in your help-wanted sign forms a basis for trust. If we hide the difficult parts in our help-wanted advertisement, we might assemble a team that will fracture when we wander off course.
It is easy to think about how to scale when, in reality, we might not comprehend the realities of scale.
Two Starbucks, located across the street from each other, appear like poor business planning; until we recognize that the stores exist in an urban design that prioritizes automobiles. If ease of pedestrian travel were a preference, perhaps one store would be sufficient.
How might we understand ‘who it is for’ before we begin our design and implementation phase? Starbucks does not exist to serve vehicles, but it does serve people. That said, it inhabits an environment that has amplified the needs of motorized travel; therefore, its design model accommodates those arriving in vehicles.
Where we perform our art adds depth and dimension to the experience. If we skate in a poorly lit and aging ice rink, we do not benefit from the added value that a remarkable backdrop can offer.
When we plan in isolation, we might fail to see the landscape that impacts our journey.
Not all strategies can be BHAGs (Big Hairy Audacious Goals). Sometimes, section hiking or even linking together day hikes might be more productive than trying to complete the entire thru-hike that we aspire to finish.
What-if-concepts 