When do you persist, and when do you seek another path? Do you rely on instinct, metrics, feedback, emotions, and past experience? What drives your decision-making? How might it vary from moment to moment? What external factors impact your judgments? How much priority do you give your instinct when captured in a liminal moment?
My board term is concluding, and there is an opportunity for contemplation. What was completed, what was learned, what was overlooked, and what was left unfinished? Surprisingly, the unfinished business has my attention. Did we keep the organization in flight and positioned to fulfill its mission, or did we lose track of the navigation and propulsion resources?
There will be unfinished business; the question is, is it the work that matters or a list of emergency repairs?
What topic would your team double-click on to investigate in more detail? If you preserved 15 minutes at the end of a team meeting and took a poll of the agenda items covered (or perhaps topics left off the agenda), which would the group expand upon?
How might an agenda support curiosity over performative habits?
If you were given a chance to make a wish list order on behalf of a cause you support, what would you order?
Now, look at the organization’s strategic plan. Is there an overlap, or do your dream orders and the organization’s strategic priorities travel opposite directions?
This is a memorable icebreaker at the start of a board and staff meeting. It quickly assesses whether the strategic framework is a living document or a list of ungrounded ideas that float like a dirigible, circling the air space above without delivering the cargo.
If I post no insights today, are you the reader and I the contributor, like passing aircraft in the sky? Each is headed on our own itinerary but missing the chance to share a ride report on what lies ahead. When do you choose nothing, and when do you choose to share something?
Flying over Greenland and the name generates more questions than clarity. Which names make you ponder their genesis?
What vision do you project? Is the image a mirror of your reality or a dystopian facsimile? Building trust and authenticity often centers around the alignment of words and deeds.
When you build infrastructure and offices to deal with misplaced items, there is an understanding that the system has cracks. Commercial airlines staff baggage claim desks where one can report lost or damaged items. It is an assumption that checking a bag with an airline does not guarantee it will arrive at its final destination or drop onto the carousel in the same condition as it started the journey. The aviation industry has prepared us for acceptable loss.
What disruptions and loss have we built into our enterprises? What disappointments are our customers trained to endure?
If you were asked to represent your cause’s utopian state and frame the representation, what image comes to mind? For some enterprises, it is an iconic headquarters building; others aspire to a level of impact, another group may highlight the people committed to the cause, and some might capture a signature program. Perhaps ask yourself if you can see yourself in the image. If we see a confluence point, we are doing the work that matters. If we cannot see ourselves in the projection of the future, our attempt to be of service may be misaligned.
When hosting an event with twelve thousand skiers from multiple countries and endeavoring to enforce the rules, you might need to make the consequences visible; otherwise, some participants might think the regulations are optional. Remember, you protect an asset (scenery and natural setting) that makes the event remarkable.
What-if-concepts 