Our vision of the future does not have to be perfect before we start talking about it. How will anyone know about where we are headed or who we are seeking if we keep it to ourselves? We are inspired by those who have a clarity about what keeps them oriented.
When we give ourselves permission to fail and base our outcomes on hope and committed work, be prepared for surprising results.
Sometimes the best solution is to assemble a group of like-minded individuals who are committed to a shared outcome. A task force is a powerful tactic to address a specific objective.
Numerous resource from Seth Godin to power your fundraising efforts.
What is our vanishing point? The focal point on the horizon that keep us orientated. If you know our magnetic north then it is easier to track the direction of travel. Many vision statements speak to the moment in time when our efforts are no longer needed. A cure for cancer would allow many causes to cease their work. Educational reform, end to homelessness, equal pay, and access to services are all vanishing points. The challenge is to keep our vanishing point visible and not get caught cluttering our perspective with conflicting focal points.
Learning to solve problems gives coding meaning. Otherwise we are just learning to saw, hammer, and glue without a vision of building a house.
This photo came under the subject line ‘Only in Denver.’ It makes for a good question. What is the ‘only in (at)…’ answer to your community/organization/tribe? The answer to ‘only in’ is what is remarkable about a place, even when the answer is cynical.
Quick action required if you want to take a self-paced online course taught by Seth Godin (and wish to benefit from the discount). I signed-up and look forward to sharing observations. I previously participated in his Skillshare course and found it very productive.
Online courses are like a bike sharing program. You can ride as far and as fast as you want. Pick-up and drop-off when you please. Or keep walking as a perfectly reasonable alternative.
Without an agenda, how do we articulate the meeting’s purpose? Without purpose, how do we know why we are assembling? Without any orientation we are left to overlay our purpose and that could be remarkable or recessive.
attentiv published an interesting report on our meeting habits. It may offer a baseline for your enterprise.
Self-reported, most participants at board meetings find little value. Is there a better way forward? What if the next board meeting agenda was composed of just questions.
Strategic Agenda:
1. Why do we do what we do? 2. How do we make our purpose visible? 3. What route is most compelling for us?
Growth Mindset Agenda:
What makes us hopeful? What is hard for us but worth attempting? Where has our hard effort been rewarded?
Inquiring Minds Want to Know Agenda:
Each individual asks a question they have been reluctant to ask before (or has gone unanswered)?
The Question Agenda:
Devise all the presentations and reports as a direct responses to a single question. For example, how do we know we are succeeding?
What-if-concepts 