What would you change if you received one-day notice that an accrediation team was scheduled to review your organization? If the answer to this questions falls closer to panic than sleeping soundly, perhaps it is time to consider where purpose and actions no longer merge.
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| The finish of one race is the start of the next |
Your competitor in a running race establishes a definitive gap and heads to certain victory. They stop 10 meters before the finish line believing they have won the race. You close on them quickly seeing their mistake. You can pass them and profit from their error as they stand in false celebration. What do you do?
Here is how one competitor acted. Action defined by belief.
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| Centre National d’Art et de Culture George Pompidou |
When we are asked what we did during the weekend we tend to share impressive actions. When we are asked what we did by a member of our tribe we tend to share our inspirational actions. Impressive stories are easy. They include buying a must have gadget at an amazing discount, skiing a double black diamond, traveling long distances, finishing a puzzle. Inspiring stories take more effort but their impact is far greater. To inspire your actions must benefit someone other than yourself. The impact of an impressive story is that the listener may go repeat your action. The impact of an inspiring story is that the listener may take action that benefits others. The results in exponentially greater.
Which stories do you tell?
Are you counting the distance covered or the distance until you arrive? There is a moment of inflection when we start counting the distance covered and then switch to counting down that which remains before we arrive at the finish. It is my experience that once we believe we can reach the finish line (or the starting point is too far away to consider retreating) we start counting down. If you run a marathon, somewhere along the course 19-miles run switches to 7.2 miles remaining. We reverse engineer from our preferred destination all the time. The details change when we alter our orientation from the start or finish place.
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| Troll Under the Bridge
When I wander into the reader’s comments at the end of an online article it is easy to find myself sucked into a vortex. The commentaries are often from individuals who sit willingly outside the window at an art gallery and point out all the ‘flaws’ in the artist’s work. Their version of performance art is to devalue those who they do not understand or do not present their version of reality. There is a reason these comments are placed under the article. The artist (writer) presents their best work. I can read it and form my own opinion. Or I can go under the bridge and hangout with the trolls who seek to draw people into their gloomy world where the sun rarely shines. It is my choice but these two worlds are separated by inspiration.
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Actions show that we think more choices equates to a better life. However, too many choices seem to create a less ideal return on investment. If we focus on a selected group of offerings it creates a powerful pathway to meeting expectations. An unintentional consequence of too many choices is the more choices the more likely the customer starts blaming themselves if they do not get what they want. That does not enhance a confluence of purpose.
Kickstarter just released a report on the projects launched and funded in 2012.
My son proclaimed he was bored. It was the last day of winter break and obviously it was time to return to school given that he had run out of entertainment options. I thought about his creativity block for a day and realized that I could have asked him to write-out a list of his favorite activities and then another list of random activities. The unconventional combinations from the two lists would create some remarkable moments.
Wheelchair + Scuba Diving
Sky Diving + Rubik’s Cube
Cross Country Skiing + Tropical Beach
Yoga + Breakdancing
Seth Godin shared a simply reminder that our best results come from making better decisions. The simple equation we run in the background each moment is to align our purpose with the decisions we make. The results can be remarkable.
What happens when you combine two different art forms? Lego Star Wars and a customized music machine provide a memorable example.
What-if-concepts 