Innovative Concepts

BoardSource Leadership Forum Day Two

Will Novy-Hildesley and Heather McLeod-Grant introduced planning tactics around Adaptive Strategies for The New Normal.  Participants completed a quick and easy to follow workshop on planning for the future by answering the following questions.

  • Core: What are the six words (preference for verbs over nouns) that describe your organization.  Now underline the top three.  Finally, circle the single word that best describes your cause.  Is it authentic?  Does it resonate? Words like inspire, empower, engage are used by many organizations and may hard to serve as differentiators.  Consider a word that is unique.  This word represents your purpose or core belief.
  • Explore: Using the example of bouldering in the sport of rock climbing the presenters illustrated the importance of having a proving grounds.  Bouldering allows climbers to fail repeatedly due to low heights and the presence of padding for crash landings.  This form of practice has transformed the routes being climbed on the bigger rock faces because climbers have found a safer place to fail as they prepare.  What initiative could your organization attempt that will transform your journey even if you fail repeatedly at the start? 
  • Connect: Who do you need to connect with that is outside your current sector/area of expertise?  Example, Boise State Football Coach Chris Petersen exchanges leadership ideas with other leaders in a group called “The Gang.”  The members come from diverse sectors but each is uniquely positioned to talk about leadership.
  • Evolve: What specifically will your organization look like when it reaches it next level of excellence?  Will their be wait lists to serve on the board?  Will model the Zappoos strategy of paying people to not take a job if they have any reservations after orientation?  Will your organization be branded as the leader within your sector?  Will your vision be met?  This is your strategic focus.

Sterling Speirn, the CEO of the Kellogg Foundation gave the keynote talk.  He had insightful observations for funders and the nonprofit community.

  •  Be willing to hold board/staff meetings where there is no decision-making or votes.  Have a generative conversation about “what-if?”  Focus on sensemaking, not decision-making.
  • When does counting people change to people counting?
  • Do not be so quick to limit an initiative to a time and dollar cap (e.g. 5 years of funding and $500,000).  Commit to a problem until it is solved or be willing to be involved for a generation.
  • His mantra as the new CEO years ago, ‘I did not come here to change the foundation, I came here to change the world.’
  • Be willing to challenge the sentiment, “change is great, you go first.”

Best of BoardSource Leadership Forum Day One

Tim King from Urban Prep in Chicago was the morning keynote.  Tim is a remarkable speaker (to get a glimpse into his passionate delivery see his 2012 Commencement Address).  A couple themes from his talk:

  • “We believe” 
    • You either do or you do not believe.  There is no halfway.
    • What would it take to stop believing?
  •  Altering World view
    • If you want people to have another path forward, you need to provide another world view
  • Change
    • Change does not happen by just thinking bigger and and dreaming.  We must act.
    • If you want people to change their dance, you must change the music- African Proverb
    • Ritual plays an important role in change.  At Urban Prep the freshman class receives their  school blazer on the first day of school
    • Our work is not for us, it is for others, those that follow.  We are planting trees from which we will never experience shade.

Janelle Brittain and Joe Wilkins presented from their collective experience helping organizations take bold risks.  Themes from their presentation included:

  • Assess the boards appetite for risk.  Map out each individual’s comfort level for change.
  • What is the Ripple Effect of your organization’s decision.  Consider the ripples beyond just the local and immediate community
  • How to make the case for decision that involves bold risk:
    • Focused Opening
    • Why?  What is the opportunity/impact?
    • Alignment with strategic goals
    • Paint a picture of completion
    • Options for moving forward.  What is the smallest step an organization can take with the greatest impact?  What is mandatory?
    • Testimonials- who else has traveled this path?
    • What are the downsides?
    • What is the impact if no decision is made?
    • Create a sense of urgency.
  • Convert Skeptics
    • Appreciate them first and respect their ideas
    • Identify and clarify the concerns

Finally, Cathy Trower, author of The Practitioner’s Guide to Governance as Leadership focused on the role of board accountability.

  • Take time in the sensemaking stage.  Do not rush to decide.  Framing an issue is as important for what it focuses on as it is for what it leaves out.
  • Board’s must make sense out of the data they are provided.  They cannot just except it and move forward without inquiry.
  • Encourage robust discourse and consider not voting on a decision until an opposing view has been expressed.
  • Create a culture of inquiry.  Consider framing issues with a best case, most likely case, and worst case mindset.
  • What if the board assessed the CEO partially on the quality of the critical questions that they brought to the board?
  • Effective leadership is avoiding making authoritative and absolute right answers

The Gift of Apprenticeships

One of the greatest gifts each of us can offer is an apprenticeship to somebody inspired by our art.  Not an internship that is limited to low-level job assignments and the hope that the intern absorbs the culture by osmosis.  Rather, a dedicated opportunity to amplify a passion; to be granted hands on opportunities and game time exposure.  

As a former Emergency Medical Technician, no amount of training on a simulator manikin could prepare me for a call.  Training helped me familiarize myself with the equipment and procedures but inevitably an actually response challenged all my assumptions.  Driving snowstorm, language barriers, combative patients, and precarious locations all needed to be experienced.  Medical emergencies seemed destine to happen in the most challenging settings.   Only with repeated opportunities to respond did my skill set improve.

Consider that many business schools are now foregoing theoretical case studies in place of apprenticeships with companies.  The theory is that the MBA students will work on actual projects that benefit the company and a performance stepping-stone when they graduate.  An apprenticeship offers an applicant a dramatically different answer to the question, ‘what experience do you have?’

When we reflect on our journey there are people we learned significantly more from than others.  Many of those individuals were enthusiastic enough to offer us spot on the stage to experience the spotlight and a real audience.

New

I walked past an airport kiosk selling Bose headphones and speakers.  A “new” sign hung under one item.  The Bose representative sat in a chair fully immersed in an ebook.  Metallica blared from the speakers.  The music and “new” sign were going to be responsible for any sales today.  The salesperson was too caught-up in something more important.

Branding an item as new does not mean people with spring into action.  We must connect and provide significance before real and meaningful interactions can take place.

Purpose vs Fame & Money
Calvin and Hobbes animation

Bill Watterson, creator and chief philosopher of Calvin and Hobbes fame is a remarkable example of staying aligned with ones purpose.  He ended artistic production of his comic strip at the pinnacle, pole position in the funny section in every newspapers.  He wished to control the future of his art and its application.  His followers were shocked.  It was as if the sitcom Seinfeld called it a career after season five and had foregone syndication.  Bill’s work on Calvin and Hobbes continues to be a source of inspiration, finding itself the thread that weaves together life’s lessons. 

Bill’s recent interview with Mental_Floss is illuminating.  The upcoming movie Dear Mr. Watterson, scheduled for release on November 15, 2013 should continue to expand the adventure.

Most inspiring is the care with which Bill took to stay true to his beliefs.  The money and fame were growing exponentially yet he chose purpose and that made his art even more precious.

Banksy
 
Authenticity is saying what one believes and then acting in a manner that is consistent and oriented to the stated belief.  Banksy’s residency in New York has taken on social and moral issues that are too sacred to discuss publicly.  His art will fade from the walls and temporary exhibition spaces, but the narrative he has encouraged will last far longer.
What is the narrative that takes place when the audience leaves the theater after viewing your masterpiece?

Disruptive

Does an idea have to be disruptive to be remarkable?  Said differently, does a new concept have to shake our conventional assumptions sufficiently to the point that we must comment?  Is disruption always progress?  

Apple released a new and enhanced line of products this week.  The reviews I read focus on how disruptive the new features and design are to the consumer’s current experience.  This form of disruption is deemed as positive.  Consumers were generally satisfied with the current model but now the new versions offers innovation worthy disrupting our habits and considering change.  

When I travel and the TSA changes a security screening procedure, disruption can be challenging.  I memorize the routine as a frequent flier.  I recognize that shoes are placed into a bin on the x-ray belt but suddenly they needed to be placed directly onto belt without a bin.  This form of disruption is unsettling.  Perhaps it leads to greater efficiency or more effective screening but it also can be frustrating.

Knowing what is and what is not worthy of disruption reinforces or erodes trust and loyalty.  Remarkable is not always great.  If you build a tribe of followers who share a core belief they will endure disruptions as long as it enhances the organization’s dreams.

Stories or Awards

Awards are secondary to the stories behind the experience of competing.  A ribbon can be worthy of an epic tale of achievement that lasts far longer than any plaque or trophy.  Customized or scarce awards make the story even more potent.  The finish line and post event party are full of people telling tales.  The winner’s accomplishments are often well documented but every competitor has an opportunity to share in the narrative.

Host an event and make it remarkable.  The stories that follow will be far more valuable than awards and goody bags. 

Hero’s Journey
Summer camp, boarding school, new travel destinations, and numerous lifetime adventures are uniquely positioned to support the Hero’s Journey as developed by Joseph Cambell.  If we measure the impact of our lives by the stories we tell, then let us seek out remarkable quests.
How does a sleep-away summer camp experience amplify the Hero’s Journey?  A camper experiences an immediate separation from home.  The camper face numerous challenges, adventures and experiences.  An initiation or ceremony reveals their new talents and the camper return to the camp community and later home.  Forever changed the heroic journey is embedded in their story.  They may return to the summer camp for a succession of adventure programs, each amplifying their story and offering new journeys.  The power the camper receive from the Hero’s Journey will forever orient the course of their life and those who they meet in their travels.

What journey is waiting for you?  What is the cost of not embarking on it today?  How has a previous Hero’s Journey forever changed the place you exist today?

Being Heard

What if we included Seth Godin’s blog post entitled, ‘The complaining customer doesn’t want a refund‘ as a preamble to all customer service communications.  Can we really be compensated for time lost or aggravation experienced?  We are worth far more than a credit for a future flight or balance towards a future transaction.  What good does a voucher do if the hyperlink to a better experience remains broken?  What we really want is to be heard and know that enduring a less than ideal interaction made the next person’s experience better.  Change for those who follow us is worthy of conversation.  However, we have been taught (and encourage) a transactional relationship.  We accept $xxx and say we will forget the interaction ever happened.  Except we do not forget.  It becomes our story.  We continue to tell the story with impunity with no confidentiality agreement signed.  The cost to the service provider is actually much higher than the goodwill coupon.  The company paid us to win back our loyalty and we got to keep our story.  What if an organization really heard us and took measurable and transformational steps to improve based on our feedback?  The pot hole did not get an orange traffic cone but was actually repaved.  We would tell a completely different story if we were heard and that story would be remarkable.