I am not certain what qualifies one as a shaving expert but I do not challenge the claim. Experience has demonstrated that experts are everywhere. Experts who know a bit more than you or I and are generous enough to share the information. We are experts also, it is just a question of where and when we share our expertise.
Author: whatifconcepts
A Vision From Here
There is value in starting from where you are instead of trying to return for a clean piece of paper. Take Ruth Oosterman who uses her 2-year old’s sketches as the foundation for her finished work. Their collaboration is intriguing and arguably richer due to the individual visions finding a point of confluence. How can you create a more powerful vision starting from where you are today?
Simple Things, Profound Interactions
List an older bike stand for working on road or mountain bikes on craigslist. Within a couple hours I received eight replies expressing interest and each email told a story suggesting a need more profound than the transaction I was attempting to undertake. Sometimes simple opportunities are highly desired and people are willing to share their stories to express the value of an interaction.
Authority
When did we have to start announcing that we have information on “good authority.” How was the cycle of trust with authority broken sufficiently that we need to start qualifying our source of information. What were the circumstances to so disappoint someone with erroneous information that authority could no longer be trusted. Are you an enterprise that relies on authority or good authority?
Streets Are for People
Paradigm shift? What if we started with the belief that streets are for people. Vehicles are some of the transportation tools we use to access streets but streets do not exist solely to serve vehicles. When we consider all the possible way people can interface with streets new opportunities appear. When we think differently, we open the possibility for remarkable interactions. How often do we challenge our assumptions?
Remarkably Generous
A refrain in the social sector is to refer to nonprofit boards as ‘working boards.’ Implying that the board is in charge, taking action, and not rubber stamping directives from the Executive Director. Visit a meeting of a ‘working board’ and it is not uncommon to find exceptions to the working sentiment. Committee meetings postponed, attendance mixed, materials not reviewed prior to a session, and a small minority of attendees fully understand the topic in front of the board. Despite a commitment to working, effectiveness does not always follow.
Seth Godin implored us to be generous in our interactions. Set-up systems that are easy to understand, user-friendly, and engage. Curate topics to be discussed that amplify the board’s strengths. Send out materials in a timely manner and be generous in what you assemble, relevant, compelling and concise. Set clear expectations and state the session’s purpose. Close with a commander’s intent framework. Allow the expeditionary team to outline actionable next steps and select a captain to oversee their journey. Agree upon the group’s guidelines during meetings, we know what to do with our electronic devices when the airline closes the cabin door.
How would remarkable generosity manifest itself in your enterprise? How would it feel? What would it look like? Would a first time visitor be able to navigate your process? How can the working board be empowered to be the generous board?
The Human Connection
Simon Sinek reminds us that personal human interactions are critical to forming trust. How do our in-person actions enhance our relationships?
Why We Exist
It is easy to get myopic when most attention and money seem to flow to/from our peripheral enterprises. Our organization was founded to engage, start conversations, and inspire. We wanted to make an aspect of life better. So we made a brave decision to place ourselves into our respective communities. We required fuel to reach our destination and connected with sources of funding. But the funding was not the reason we started the journey and it is not the destination. Most of our tribe joined because the vision was compelling and the adventure worthy of their time. Does our enterprise today reflect the journey we started at inception or is the new destination driven by the location of refueling stations?
Adventure Starts at the Detour Sign
Our commitment to reaching a destination is tested when we encounter detours and closures. If we are prepared to alter course we are far more agile than when the route outweighs the destination. Too often we forget to survey the landscape from the summit to find alternate routes.
“You cannot stay on the summit forever; you have to come down again. So why bother in the first place? Just this: What is above knows what is below, but what is below does not know what is above. One climbs, one sees. One descends, one sees no longer, but one has seen. There is an art of conducting oneself in the lower regions by the memory of what one saw higher up. When one can no longer see, one can at least still know.”
Mapping Success
Keeping track of your progress does not have to be limited to spreadsheets and bar graphs. An engaging opportunity is to ask team members to develop a customized scorecard that tracks your journey. Take the above image that reflects a table seating map from a restaurant. How you map your adventure can be remarkable.
What-if-concepts 