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.
How does your cause construct its brand? Does it start by employing SEO, identifying a target audience, establishing a voice, agreeing upon a style guide, and investing in research? Or, does it tell an authentic story? We can build trust with people and their values, and we can establish a meaningful relationship. We might think we have a connection with a brand, but it is similar to a conversation with AI, all the right sentiments, but no depth or dimension.
United Airlines, Marriott, National Car Rental, Specialized Bikes, and Garmin have all added value to my adventures, but none of them has developed anything beyond a transactional relationship. They provide a service and offer loyalty reward benefits, but there is little to sustain our interaction. For comparison, I support social sector causes and am familiar with the individuals who work for these organizations. The blend of the organization’s vision and the team’s role of serving builds the brand.
When we attempt to advance our brand over people, our relationship with them transitions, diluting our connection with those we serve.
Landing at a large airport contains many sights. The other day, when taxing to the gate, we passed a training fire exercise, which caught the attention of a few passengers on my flight. The pilots did not mention the fire in advance as a courtesy to reduce the alarm, but eventually, the passengers worked out that the flames did not merit panic.
How can we provide advance warning to our constituents when we anticipate turbulent events on the horizon that might not be visible from their perspective? How might we set people up for success? Treating our fans to an amusement ride, where masking adrenaline-inducing drops and climbs is a key part of the design, is welcomed if that is the agreement; otherwise, broadcasting the forecast might be more beneficial.
If your enterprise were to run a torch relay, similar to the Olympic Torch Relay, what would be the design of the torch? Which symbols would you include?
What map do you see that is not visible to almost everyone else? Where does your reality diverge from the conventional? Is that what makes you remarkable?
When you yell ‘echo,’ whose voice responds?
In the right environment, we can create an echo by deploying our voice so that it reverberates and returns to us as if shouted by another person located some distance away.
We can take for granted that we generate echoes in our world. We can communicate out, and there are those who respond quickly and with affirmation or empathy as needed. But what happens when those voices cease to respond?
How often do you celebrate and nurture the voices on the other side of the echo? Do you develop a symbiotic relationship, or is it one-sided? What if you made time to prioritize your echo reflectors and make sure they are recognized for the essential role they play in your work?
What-if-concepts 