Where do we encounter boundaries?  Some are visible and others require prior knowledge to know where they exist.  Organization’s have boundaries.  We discover them when we attempt new ideas that will move the enterprise closer to the edge.  No matter how much fuel and momentum we have for the journey inevitably a counter movement will try to stop the advance.  Mapping boundaries is unpredictable an imprecise.  One way to make them visible is to launch an initiative and see who and what joins the effort and where the forces that are running against you appear.

A few questions to consider:  What wouldn’t we do as an organization?  Why?  What would the board that follows think about our current deliberations?  If failure is a distinct possibility what is worth attempting anyway?  Is this boundary sacred or intentional and when do we last discuss its merits?  What if another enterprise makes remarkable progress on the frontier we are unwilling to enter?  Would we reconsider if someone else goes first?  Are we trying to be safer or better?