Does your organization’s agenda highlight successes or problems? Most enterprises proportion the majority of their time in favor of problems. If an outsider attended a board meeting would they think your organization was succeeding or struggling on a burning platform?
Consider what your organization spends its time discussing in meetings. What does it do to the culture of the organization?
Sometimes the iconic thing you do needs to be hidden from view in order for others to appreciate its value. Boise State University’s Football Team is know for playing on blue turf. There is now an NCAA rule that restricts any other football programs from installing turf that is not green in color. The BSU stadium’s field is covered with grass this week in order to facilitate a FIFA friendly soccer match. The blue turf is visible year round except for this special occasion. Covering the blue turf has generated numerous interest, discussion, and robust debate. The iconic blue turf will be back next week and appreciation for its existence will grow. The grass has a future home in a local park so those with an affinity for the soccer pitch can visit it there.
What if you hid your signature thing for a few days. Would people notice? Would they remark on its absence? Who would comment? What might you learn about its perceived value?
A room on the highest floor with a views may be provided for individuals with higher status in a hotel loyalty program. That perk is less treasured when the elevators stop operating or a tropical storm forces evacuations to lower floors. First and Business Class seats are usually clustered in the first rows of an airplane. These seats becomes less desirable when the air conditioning unit in the front of the plane fails and the temperature soars. Upgraded luxury cars are offered as perks to loyal rent-a-car customers. This upgrade becomes less remarkable when one has to refill the gas tank or a customer is assessed a congestion charge in a major city, a fee that is waived for smaller hybrid vehicles.
Elite status brings benefits. Not everyone is seeking the same perks. The assumption that a business makes about what constitutes value can be misaligned with the customer’s desires. Being flexible with rewards offers more value than having a one size fits all rewards chart.
We get lulled into patterns of thinking and acting. The is fast, that is slow. Open this door, not that. This person produces results, that person always hesitates before acting. We do this until our pattern is interrupted. If we are adventurous enough we put ourselves in unique environments then weak ideas influence our worldview.
We can interact with a different group of people, attend conferences that attract a different tribe, read from peripheral sources, or just try to get lost and search for a way back. Otherwise it takes the unexpected to jolt us awake. When our paradigm is flipped by the irrelevant becoming remarkable.
If the conditions are challenging enough, others will seek to share the path that you are working to establish.
Where does humor find itself into our efforts? If we cannot remember the last outburst of laughter perhaps it is a point of reflection. Few of us are making decisions that will change the fate of the world within seconds. It is the committed ceaselessness of our efforts that results in remarkable. Lets be a bit playful in our deliberations otherwise the world we are trying to create becomes a lot harder to imagine.
Is your tribes instantly recognizable to each other? Hang a pirate flag from your ship and anyone who comes within eye-sight knows your intentions. Wear New York Yankees pinstripes, the Dallas Cowboy’s star, or a Harley Davidson tattoo and you find out quickly who is with you and who does not find favor with your alliances. These are universal symbols and have taken decades to develop. If you do not need everyone your focus should be on precise.
How have you distinguished your tribe? Is it visible to those who need to know? Do you need to be known beyond the borders of your tribe? If not then release yourself from the self-imposed anxiety over being known by everyone.
Our vision of the future does not have to be perfect before we start talking about it. How will anyone know about where we are headed or who we are seeking if we keep it to ourselves? We are inspired by those who have a clarity about what keeps them oriented.
When we give ourselves permission to fail and base our outcomes on hope and committed work, be prepared for surprising results.
Sometimes the best solution is to assemble a group of like-minded individuals who are committed to a shared outcome. A task force is a powerful tactic to address a specific objective.
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