When we launch a new idea or product, it is our most recent (and hopefully best) version. It is the current model. When we purchase a new vehicle, software, or product, we receive what is currently in production. We cannot purchase and immediately use the coming model.
How might we embrace where we are and what we have? How might we not always be evluating our version versus the next itteration? How might we avoid prioritizing buying for the future when our needs might change?
Top performers learn how to use their elite capacity in doses. Instead of maintaining an output that is always at their redline, they can calibrate the scale of their effort to the requirements of the terrain they face.
How might we scale our efforts to better reflect the real-time demand on our resources? How might we set those who serve up for success by coordinating their efforts to the work that matters?
When we introduce a knot, we weaken the working load of a rope up to 50%. If we project the impact of a knot into our own work, what are the literal or figurative knots that create impediments to our impact? Which systemic knots can easily be removed? Which operational knots have been stressed so dramatically that they cannot be undone?
How might we employ knots to secure essential items and avoid using them when they are redundant or unnecessary?
How much we move and how vigorous our activity are fundamental predictors of our lifespan.
As an organization, what is our durability when measured by activity and the pace? Are we an enterprise that maintains a steady cadence, similar to a thru-hiking backpacker? Do we move quickly, committed to high-exertion sprints, like a hockey player on the ice for 90 seconds? Do we toggle between these pacing strategies? Or are we just active enough to stay relevant but infrequently willing to switch speeds? Does our organization’s DNA have the ability to change pace, if required?
How might we be intentional in our pacing strategy? How might we occasionally switch gears to emulate the capacity of a sprinter and an ultra-runner?
Where we originate our trip matters if travel time is a priority. The map above shows all the places one can travel to via train in 8 hours or less when departing Geneva, Switzerland. Check out the mapping tool here.
If we are committed to the journey, we can invest the required resources to reach our chosen destination. If a timeline is paramount, then we may need to evaluate our starting and finishing options.
Does a timeline drive our approach, or will the journey add depth and dimension to our work, despite the duration?
Weather forecasters predict the probability of precipitation by using the certainty + coverage formula. For example, a 40% chance of rain might include 80% coverage but only a 20% certainty or 80% certainty but 20% coverage.
The formula might serve value when considering strategic initiatives. What percentage of your enterprise’s constituents does a program serve, and what is the certainty that it will take place? During a consulting engagement with a chamber of commerce, they were seeking to increase air service to the community. It was one of their highest priorities. Their projected probability score consistently ranked high since they overestimated the certainty of attracting a new airline to the region and the number of people it would serve. The miscalculation persisted for another decade before market conditions shifted and new airlines began considering adding flights.
Have you considered the WIIFT mindset, because most of us are masters of WIIFM; What In It For Them (WIIFT) versus What In It For Me (WIIFM)? There is little friction to assuming a human-centered approach when we are the priority. The degree of difficulty increases as we try to empathize about the needs and priorities of other people. If we are articulating a Magnetic North (purpose, vision, mission, and values) or setting strategic priorities, the likelihood of it resonating is tied to a WIIFT framework.
Straw men are convenient to build and easy to destroy when trying to make a point that is far removed from the facts. They are an unfaithful way to summarize a debate. A steal man takes commitment. It is suggested that a good steal man conversation included the following: 1. A re-expression of the other sides point of view that is truthful to their mindset. 2. An accounting of the ways in which you and the other side agree. 3. A listing of the ways the other side has taught you something new. 4. Finally, a rebuttal with an expression of the points on which you disagree with the other sides point of view.
Straw men can be assembled and obliterated with almost no care. Steal men take an investment of time and thought. A steal man conversation build trust and care. How would you respond if a person with a different view took the time to launch a steal man conversation?
What experiences do we encounter that reoccur? How might we make recurring moments remarkable? Who has made those moments unforgettable for you? Which enterprises delight you each time you engage them?
I once ran laps at the upper deck of the Houston International Airport parking garage during a long layover. There was a couple in a car plane spotting at one of the better vantage points. Each time I passed their vehicle, they consulted their aircraft tracking app and informed me about an inbound aircraft that I could spot in the sky, which was soon to land. They took their passion, meshed it with my repetitive workout, and made it memorable. I still think about that moment from ten years ago.
What-if-concepts 