Author: whatifconcepts

Empowering those that inspire so they can excel at the work that matters.

I am

Give this exercise a go.  

Sit in front of a wall and answer the question, ” I am ________.”  Try to write down ten answers.

Now, click on this YouTube link and watch a minute or so of the video.  With the video continuing to run answer the same question, “I am ___________.”  Try to write down ten answers.  


How do the answers between the two lists compare?  Are they similar or is there a difference?

Researches found that when they performed this experiment with two groups, one seated in a hallway staring at a wall and a second group sitting in front of a life-size Tyrannosaurus rex model in a museum, the group with the dinosaur provided answers that were far more expansive than the group looking at the wall who tended to be more limiting in their answers.  Experiencing a sense of awe was a catalyst to seeing a larger frontier and being less confined in one’s perception.


Consider all the opportunities that you have to bring awe into your life and that of your cause.  Do you share awe with your fans?  Where does your staff and board meet when they are thinking strategically, in front of a wall or next to T-rex?  Does your community see you as one of many pictures hanging on an art gallery wall or as a sculpture in the middle of a the room?  How do you collect feedback from those who interact with your enterprise?  Are you able to track awe?  Can you manifest it and does it come from your organization’s purpose?


“The mind, once expanded to the dimensions of bigger ideas, never returns to its original size.” Oliver Wendell Hollmes

Seating By Southwest

I served an arts organization that scheduled concerts each summer.  One season we landed Willie Nelson.  Tickets were a hot commodity since Willie resonated with the 60+ age group that was the art center’s core audience and also other parts of our community.  The center sold tickets at three levels, including a premium level which guaranteed a low-back lawn chair directly in front of the stage (premium patrons got to keep the chair).  A second lawn chair group was ticketed just behind the premium level and the rest of the venue was general seating.  Tickets for past summers concerts had always been sold as general seating on the lawn.  Four thousand tickets sold in a matter of two hours and then the center spent days fielding requests from some of its greatest supporters who had not been able to purchase tickets.  

The day of the concert I arrived a half-hour before the gates opened to find a line snaking away from the venue and out along a bike path further than I could see.  The ticket holders filled the lawn and then some.  Willie took the stage and the evening went into high energy.  Eventually a group of general admission fans started dancing.  They moved right on top of the premium level patrons, causing the highest paying ticket holders to abandon their lawn chairs in front of stage.  It was chaos as the center tried to salvage an area where the premium guests could sit but the crowd of dancers expanded to a thousand and was soon beyond our control.

Two lessons learned.  Always keep a handful of tickets in reserve to take care of your greatest supporters who happen to miss out on a sold out event.  Second, sell tickets that allow for early access to the concert grounds but in the spirit of Southwest Airlines allow the patrons to select their seats.  If they sit right in front of the stage then they get the benefits and potential hazards of proximity.  These two lessons have been instrumental in creating a better experience for the audience and keeping the concerts manageable.

Common Denominators

The Gallup Organization developed The Measuring Stick, an assessment instrument to uncover what made some workplaces excel and others fall flat.  Two of the core questions the Gallup Organization asks in its evaluation, “Do I have the material and equipment I need to do my work right?” And, “At work, do I have the opportunity to do what I do best every day?”  So often a company decides that everyone will work from the same tool box and follow a predetermined script regardless of their talents.  

To make this real, look at some trends inside schools.  Teachers are working in classrooms with SMART Boards and some do not have the training or desire to use them while other teachers ask for access to the technology daily.  Some educators are restricted from using an increasing array of online courses to supplement their classroom curriculum because approval of each website is needed in advance.  Imagine a math teacher not being able to use the Khan Academy to supplement their student’s learning of mathematics, history or science.  Some teachers are masters of designing and maintaining online newsletters, blogs, or webinars but not everyone needs to use the same tools to reach a shared purpose.  


Does your enterprise provide clarity about the outcome but allow team members to innovate to reach the goal?

First, Break All the Rules: What the World's Greatest Managers Do Differently

Me or Us

When speaking on television about education Bill Cosby said, “it is there for you but it is not going to come to you.”  I believe that a perception exists that everything we need should come to us.  That we deserve services and programs to work around our schedules.  The beauty of a remarkable interaction is that it involves two people making an investment of their talents in each other.  We have to be willing to go and discover that which we seek.  Some enterprises train their advocates that the organization will always come to them when there is a question or a requirement for funding.  Why not create an environment where you meet in the middle?  In making an effort from both sides you have collaborated to form a partnership.  

I adminsiter a funding program that awards scholarships to youth recipients who wished to attend extra-curricular events, perhaps a dance program or summer camp.  Our biggest challenge has been ensuring full scholarship recipients attended the entire program.  Once we removed the option of a full scholarship and required the youth organization and the applicant or their parents to contribute towards the registration fees the foundation encountered no absenteeism.  Meeting somewhere in the middle was a powerful lever for everyone involved.


I am reminded of Robert Frost’s poem, Mending Wall that speaks to the ideology of a shared experience.

I let my neighbor know beyond the hill;
And on a day we meet to walk the line
And set the wall between us once again.
We keep the wall between us as we go.
To each the boulders that have fallen to each.  

Robert Frost, Mending Wall

Constant or Flooding

McDonalds just announced that it was hiring up to 50,000 new employees on National Hiring Day- April 19, 2011.  McDonalds was planning to add these positions already but decided to lump the hiring into a single event.  The coverage of McDonald’s announcement turned into national news due to size and scope of the one-day event.  

What can we learn from McDonald’s experience?  I recently received a letter from an independent school announcing four significant philanthropic gifts to separate initiatives.  My assessment of the school after the reading the message was that great things were taking place.  Had I received an announcement once a week over a month from the school sharing news about each contribution individually it may not have had the same impact.  Sometimes a flood of information leaves a greater impression that a stream of constant communication running at the same pace.

Perfection?

What would perfection look like for you enterprise?  For some causes this would mean they would cease to exist.  If for example your vision is a cure for cancer then perfection is a cancer free world.  An amazing future but it is uncertain how soon this might be realized.

Consider another question.  How would unwavering commitment to your organization’s purpose manifest itself?  For many causes it would be a fully engaged board and staff, donor who are advocates, volunteers who find opportunities matched to their individual talents, and a community that believes it is better due to the presence of your organization.  Being committed is within your control.  Managing perfection requires variables that are internal and external.  One of these is within your control right now, the other requires execution without setbacks.

#Winning

In the final days of the 2010-11 cross-country ski season there are moments for reflection.  Thoughts turn to past skis with snow so white juxtaposed against a blue sky worthy of a poster in a visitor’s center.  Wicked winds that blew snow sideways for all 40 kilometers of a ski race and obscured the trail.  Intervals that hurt but made me feel faster after having finished them.  Races results with personal bests.  What strikes me this time of year is the fact that I keep skiing.  The competitive season is over.  It would be far more productive to exchange skis for running shoes or a cycling kits and prepare for approaching events in each of those disciplines.  Why ski in wet spring snow that sucks the skis to a slow crawl?  Perhaps it is because the season lasts only four months and the uncertainty of next winter’s snow leaves some anxiety.  The reality is that skiing seems to fill some unquenchable thirst.  The solitude and rhythm of a stride or skating motion tapped out over a variety of terrain matches some universal metronome.  The results of each race do not carry forward but the landscape and moments I encountered stride confidently into the summer months to nourish my passion for a coming winter.

Winning did not alter my passion for the sport.  Getting better each season has sustained me.  The never ending improvements that come with repetition and commitment regardless of scale has become my definition of winning.  What is yours?

Momentum?

Would you rather start a round of golf with four birdies and finish with a triple bogey on the final hole, or bogey on each of the first three holes and then finish with four birdies?  Both rounds of golf net a -1 total score so to the casual observer of a leaderboard there is no difference between the rounds.  Some argue that they would prefer to start with the set-backs early and finish strong since it leads to momentum the next round.  Others suggest that the fast start demonstrates mastery and there was simply a lack of execution on a single hole.


Have you started an initiative with lots of momentum only to struggle to reach ?  Or, have you been set numerous early set-backs only to overcome and achieve your goal.  Many capital campaigns do not announce their goal publicly until they have sufficient commitments from insiders- going for the early momentum approach.  Other organizations make public appeals when they have exhausted all other options, calling on their fans to help them overcome a slow start and avoid impending failure.


Can you shape momentum?  Are you an architect of choice?