Author: whatifconcepts

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

Tracks

Cross-country ski tracks for classic/traditional skiing provide mini-guardrails to align our skis down the trail. Tracks allow skiers to relax a few supporting muscles that might otherwise be recruited to micro-adjustment and maintain a direction. The challenge with cross-country tracks is that a skier is beholden to the route the groomer selects. If the trail goes straight up the steepest hill or descends a formidable downhill, one can stay in the tracks and ski the route as prescribed. Or, a skier can bounce out of the tracks and attempt techniques more suited to climbing steep hills with less effort and controlling speed on twisting downhills.

Just because the tracks exist does not mean they are compulsory.

How might we recognize that ski tracks might be the fastest way forward, but in specific terrain and snow conditions, it is faster (and safer) to ski outside the tracks? How might we remain curious and not rely on compliance as our priority?

It is a Theme (Not a Specific)

When asking nutritionists about the best diets to follow, their answer tends to contemplate themes. They can highlight the benefits and challenges of specific diets, but they return to more prominent themes. How might we recognize that we sometimes require a specific resource to move forward, but on numerous occasions, we can progress with different forms of fuel for our journey? An ultra hiker can snack on Snicker bars, pieces of fruit, plant foods, or nothing (for limited durations), and all these forms will help them move down the trail.

What if our planning was not so rigid about meeting specific goals, except where necessary? What if we developed themes we were curious about exploring, understanding that navigating to a general vicinity of a goal might be more potent than clambering to a specific summit?

The Bucket
Melting snow for water during a yurt trip.

Social media post I encountered. “I completed the first thing on my bucket list…I got a bucket.”

The quip is positioned as a humorous post but embeds truth in its simplicity. Before launching our aspirational moonshot, how might we ensure we have the essential supplies and a basic foundation? If we continuously operate on a burning platform, trying to assemble the basics to stay in the game, perhaps a fully articulated marketing plan is not our next move.

Repetitive Behaviors

What repetitive behaviors are paramount to your enterprise’s success? Which repetitive behaviors block your team’s progress? Which provide opportunities to amplify or reduce, and which ones appear fixed?

In John Green’s book The Anthropocene Reviewed, there is a chapter entitled ‘Wintry Mix.’ In the narrative, he communicates his struggle to maintain a vegetable garden and discourage the local groundhog, who forages freely from his plot. Eventually, he plants a separate garden for the groundhog, allowing John to maintain his passion project and reduce the groundhog’s desire to use it like a sample at Costco.

The groundhog’s repetitive behavior was eating from a garden. It would not switch tactics unless relocated or eliminated; neither was an option for John. So, a compromise was reached, allowing the author and groundhog to continue their passions with significantly reduced friction.

How might we assess our repetitive actions with sobriety? How might we embrace those that serve us, try to isolate those that foil our progress, and remain open to new mindsets?

Creating Your Own Market

If a personal injury lawyer’s firm places numerous billboards along the most dangerous sections of the highway, are they creating a market? Do the billboards add distractions during the most demanding portion of a driver’s journey, potentially contributing to more accidents? Are they developing a market by advertising to that market?

We can create markets by being present in locations where people have known and unknown needs. A resort where we vacationed had an extensive lagoon pool. The pool rental shack gave the first two sea kayaks of the day out for a free half-hour every morning. Experience revealed to the owner that guests seeing the kayaks or paddle boards in the lagoon would drive more rentals than waiting for somebody to commit to the day’s first transaction.

Simon Sinek has an insightful story about the rule of two in shoe sales. Reducing choices to two pairs of shoes versus three or more created a more profitable market. Adding limits can actually increase our impact.

How might we create our market by aligning our values and actions?

Stress

In the early fall of 2008, my wife and I walked to dinner through Midtown Manhattan. A half-block from Grand Central Station, we encountered an investment banker; my prognosis was based on his dress, the embroidered corporate logo on his backpack, and the financial folder under his arm. He was in a hurry, and we happened to make eye contact. He proceeded to projectile vomit onto the street and continue on his way, his gait unbroken and his demeanor unchanged. Within days, the financial insolvency of major Wall Street institutions would become front-page news.

Weeks later, my wife and I wondered what tremors of systemic cataclysm had corroded his worldview that was not part of our consciousness when we crossed paths. We carried the minor stress of navigating NYC streets and arriving on time for our event. He was forerunning the potential of societal collapse. Our stress levels were exponentially disconnected.

It is convenient to apply our stress level to situations we encounter. If we arrive calm and serene to a meeting, we might not embody the fight or flight narrative being discussed due to a revenue shortfall. If we reach a meeting late and are completely distracted by external events, we might add fuel to the anxiety percolating among our team.

How might we calibrate to set shared expectations before moving forward as a team? How might we be aligned to make the best possible decisions instead of deferring to the narrative stress might shout?

A Stated Metric

In 2018, the New York University School of Medicine announced free tuition for enrolling students. A stated metric was the growth in attracting more diverse candidates and greater placement of primary care physicians in underserved areas. MarketPlace aired an update on the program’s progress. A quick glance at the stated metric suggests this effort has not yielded the anticipated results.

The hypothesis was that tuition was a significant barrier to entry, and due to the likelihood of student loan debt, medical students would select specialties that paid the highest salaries over primary care or other lower-compensation medical fields. ‘Free’ is complex and has not vacated all the anticipated barriers. The growth of diverse and challenged socio-economic students has not been as expected.

Leading with a metric can mask the more significant investment we seek to actualize. NYU’s School of Medicine has additional levers and strategies to launch to address the national shortage of medical professionals. The metric might get the headline, but the work that matters may be buried in the heart of the story.

Your Turn: A Q&A
Stoke Quotes

Compelling projects are in the works for 2025! The first is a Q&A session that will be uploaded in the coming weeks. To participate, please submit your question(s) using the form below; we will answer the ones relevant to the blog’s theme. Potential topics include (but are not limited to) the social sector, leadership, planning, design-thinking, nonprofit trends, travel, storytelling, and facilitation.

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A Year-in-Review

A year-in-review process is like investigating golf scorecards from the past 12 months. There was a script of how the rounds were intended to proceed (par) and the reality of the score we achieved. Setting goals for next year is like looking at blank golf scorecards for the rounds we intend to play. There is the ideal scenario, unfettered by any internal or external factors.

How might we leave room for the serendipity we will encounter along the way? Is the goal (par) equal to our abilities, equipment, playing companions, and mindset? How might we recognize the most transformative moments and best stories are often generated from the obstacles we face, not the predictable outcomes?

Questions That Change Outcomes

An innocuous question can solve a major airline crash investigation.

What questions do we need to ask ourselves and our team that might appear rudimentary but reveal significant barriers or opportunities? One of the best places to start is when providing orientation to new staff or board members. Their inquiry might open a new chapter for your enterprise.