What are you monitoring? Where have you placed your sensors to gain access to the data and metrics? Are you tracking the best information for your enterprise, or have you left the options on the pre-programmed default option?
Tracking
Uncategorized
Controlled Environment
Riding a bike on a velodrome removes variables present on the open roads. Velodromes tend to be limited to cyclists, ridden in the same direction, constructed with smooth surfaces, possess banked corners to support high-speed turning, provide a uniform distance, and allow riders to test their limits. Not every cyclist who is good on a velodrome is equal on the roads. Remove the controlled environment of the track, and the variables might disrupt their ability to put out constant power. Equally, not every great road cyclist can perform magic on the track.
Who might we recognize where we excel and under what conditions we thrive?
Adjusting to the Terrain
We can boast about our top-end capabilities, but if we do not have the skills to adjust to the terrain, we will crash fast in a straight line. Being able to navigate might be more important than harboring unlimited power.
Where It Will Be
If we want to intersect an orbiting planet, we will fail if we wait until it is closest to Earth and launch. We need to anticipate when the planet will reach the nadir of its orbit relative to Earth and then calculate how much time in advance we need to launch. The same is true for life. Savings funds are best started years in advance, not the week before a major purchase. Save-the-date announcements are sent months before a major ceremony. Architectural plans are drafted through iterations, beginning with broad concepts and moving towards construction and engineering details before building begins.
If the journey ahead is uncharted, we probably cannot plan today for tomorrow’s complete immersion. We need to aim for a point of confluence, where our vision and the future might intersect.
Organized
Utilities laid out within a coherent system make sense. We want items fundamental to our operations to be accessible, functional, and safe. Generative ideas are not created or built upon in the same mindset. We might need to get ourselves lost in the wilderness before understanding the terrain we occupy. Discerning our work might guide us between a functional approach or inhabiting a liminal state of mind.
Slightly Hidden
What information in your enterprise is technically available but not as accessible as possible? Annual reports, tax returns, state/federal filings documents, meeting notices might come to mind. How about the bread crumbs for future boards and staff about why and how decisions were made? How might we avoid creating a version of the game Clue by leaving things in places where others can find them?
Customized
Airlines do not have consistent rules for carrying-on bag size and weight restrictions (see the above photo for context). Passengers must do the research to determine if their carry-on bag qualifies for a specific airline. If the airline industry agreed on a universal standard, it would reduce passengers’ stress and align the baggage industry. A worldwide standard would allow for consistency at the scale of commercial airlines.
We need to decide where to offer customizations and where standardization is required. Customizations are frequently made for donors to social sector causes. Rules about naming, the timing of the gift, the way the contribution is credited, or a plethora of other details are up for discussion. How an organization’s annual report is filed with the Secretary of State contains minimal choices. Knowing what we are offering and its purpose might help us navigate our level of flexibility.
Gaming the System
Checked in for a two-leg flight. Baggage fees for two bags total $100. Upgrading to First Class was $80 (total for both legs), which included two free checked bags. I suspect the pricing is generated by an algorithm (AI). There is limited demand for First Class, so the upgrade price remained low. Baggage fees are fixed and increase based on the number of checked bags.
What inconsistent messages does your enterprise communicate? Is it transactional (airline baggage fees), or is it subtle? Does your organization’s value proposition humor your members or create confusion in your community? Sometimes, our quirks are what give us depth and dimension. Other times, it keeps individuals from investing fully in our cause.
Bunches
Some things primarily come in bunches. We can embrace this norm or work to customize our needs.
How might we decide when accepting the default mode is acceptable? How might we prioritize what would benefit from a customization effort?
Best in the World
When the best in the world are near your current location, do you gravitate towards their performance? Are you viewing to say, ‘I was there.’ As somebody who pursues the same craft, are you seeking insights on how to perform better? Do you show up to collect a memento from the event?
Understanding our motivation to prioritize our first steps.
What-if-concepts 