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Where Are You Headed?

My favorite flight tracking app is Flightradar24. The user can enable the camera on their smartphone, point it at the sky and track aircraft overhead. It is nearly instantaneous and shows the departure and arrival cities, type of aircraft, flight number, altitude, speed, and how far away the plane is from the user’s current location. Imagine the images near a large international airport?

How often have we walked into an enterprise and wondered what is going on? Is there a plan for the future or is everyday a replay? Perhaps in high tourist areas iteration works as long as one keep an eye on the other vendors and make sure to quickly plagiarize any new merchadise that might appear in their competitor’s shops. However transactions in these shops are usually one and done. If we are trying to generate loyalty we must to be able to provide something vital for the customer’s journey. We must be remarkable to the point the person who engaged us years ago immediately recalls us when recounting their interaction.

Winters ago my Mom went into a western ski resort shop specializing in Native American jewelry. She commented on a particular bracelet and the employee said they had a much bigger selection upstairs. They showed her to the second floor where the employee produced a wooden box from under the display case which was filled with an assortment of recreational drugs. In surprise, my Mom acknowledged there was some misunderstanding, thanked the employee, and exited the premise. The jewelry shop’s purpose, first floor for customers of design, second floor for recreational customers. It was uncertain as to which one was more profitable or the primary purpose.

If an outsider were to point their attention on your enterprises, would it be evident where your cause was headed and for what purpose? The vast majority of the overhead flights I track do not capture my interest. Occasionally, I will find one that make me dream a little and I will track its progress on the larger map, its journey suddenly part on mine.

Whose imagination have you captured? Where are you headed with their dreams?

Intentional

This morning a blueberry fell to the floor from my spoon and rolled somewhere out of sight. I spent a few minutes searching before it was corralled. I was amazed to find the berry four times further away than the immediate area underfoot where I located my initial reclamation effort. The search and rescue annoyed and amazed me. If I had dropped the blueberry intentionally in hopes that it will roll away like a bouncy ball and it had just landed flat I would have been disappointed. However, I found myself aggravated because this blueberry traveled far beyond what I thought was possible.

How often do we under/over-estimate an object’s potential? Fundraising campaigns intended to raise millions fall silent despite a sophisticated marketing campaign. A blog post finds an audience even though the topic was a random observation. A passing comment at a conference spurs a new organizational strategy. Or, a single discouraging look brings us down.

Our intentions and reality rarely play on the same scale. We should anticipate serendipity, surprise, and lack of correlation. If we embrace a culture of inquiry then we might ask, ‘what else might this be,’ when unanticipated events appear. Perhaps we might spend more time preparing for a broad range of results and less time selecting the spot to place our soon to be won trophy.

A Drop of Rain

Our view of the world is unique. It is much like observing our surroundings through a single rain drop sitting on a window. What we see is magnified and at the same time limited by the refractory properties of our lens. It is easy to forget that we are not the only rain drop and we both amplify and restrict that which comes within our sight. Therefore we must listen to the stories of others in order to more fully comprehend the world around us. What we see is not all that exists. What we see and fail to share is lost to those who are seeking to connect remarkable perspectives.

Our Stories

My story works because of the characters who inhabit its narrative. An amazing wife, two remarkable children, transformative parents, friends to share wondrous adventures, inspirational mentors, and antagonist who challenge me to think differently.

There are chapters in which the days are sun-drenched, breeze at my back, and I appear to be the first person to encounter this corner of the world.

Then the route closes. The way I travel everyday shuts down abruptly. I must detour. It feels daunting, uncertain, and does not come easy.

Or the conditions are not as advertised in the brochure. My expectations derail. Hope must somehow rise above despair. Finding safety versus pressing-on narrates each step.

However, the opportunity this moment is to take flight. To spring forth with ideas and beliefs and share them. To make visible that which is unseen.

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Thank you for being a character in my story. You allow the story to work and together we narrate that which was invisible by contributing a verse.

Victory Speech

Victory speeches are great when accolades are bestowed upon us. It provides a platform for us to recognize those who have provided fuel for our journey. No matter the quest, we did not travel alone and relied on mentors and guides along the way. Too often we wait until victory is gained before we give the speech.

What if we gave a little bit of the victory speech everyday? What if we were generous with our compliments and recognition each time we assemble as a team? What if the victory speech is not remarkable to the tribe because they have memorized the refrain? How would we function if we were winning each and everyday?

Cruise or Expedition

Are we going on a cruise or expedition? It is an essential question to answer early and quickly clarifies who we need on the team. Cruises have plenty of room for entertainment, amenities, food, fuel and shops. Only a fraction of the individuals on the vessel are committed to the act of navigation. Passengers may set their own schedules as they please. An expedition requires focus as only a few members composes the party, food is limited, specific skills essential, and resilience necessary.

It is easy to allow a project to become a cruise instead of an expedition. We add members to the team because more individuals involved feels safer. We establish advisory councils, funding circles, and ‘friend of’ clubs. Our attention is torn as we try to keep all the individuals engaged and entertained. People come and go as they please. Accountability is limited.

Expeditions are the fore-bearer to task forces. Name a task force, arm it clear outcomes, resources, and then allow it sufficient autonomy. Immediately there is a sense of ownership and accountability. The team is composed of individuals with specific skills. It is hard to hide in a group of seven than a committee of fifty. Remarkable outcomes generate from a few individuals marking the way for others to follow.

Cruises can be fun. If our hope is to entertain a large number of people then bon voyage. Rare is the cruise boat passenger who disembarks believing they were essential to the success of the voyage. The great expeditions provide not doubt that every member played a role in the success or failure of the quest.

Cruise or expedition?

Detailed Procedures Are Great for Surgeons and Pilots

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Procedures with a step-by-step checklist are essential when we have a known destination and specific route planned. Explorers working on the edge of charted territories do not have maps with all the details, therefore detours and retracing steps are necessary tactics. Making decisions without reference points becomes part art and part science.

I recently finished, In the Kingdom of Ice, an arctic tale that puts the Shackleton tale of survival on the second tier. The crew of the USS Jeanette searched for the rumored open waters at the North Pole. Committed to confirming the existence of ice-free waters at the most northern latitude they purposely sail thru the Bering Straight and into the arctic ice pack.

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The USS Jeannette’s committed crew of explorers balanced naval protocol, 1800’s science, and explorer’s intuition to decide their fate. They navigated haphazardly from vaguely detailed maps, celestial reference points, and the individual talents of the crew. Big decisions had to be made throughout their quest. There were no right answer, only an unflagging commitment to a journey that mattered.

After finishing the Kingdom of Ice, I read an article in Powder magazine about the human element as a cause of snow avalanches. A case was made about the decision-making process necessary to decide when to proceed with skiing a slope and when to retreat. The following decision-making paradigm was presented:

What I like about this model is that it provides a role for individual people to channel. Much like de Bono‘s Thinking Hats there is a perspective for each member of the team.

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Checklists and procedures are critical. I want airline pilots and surgeons not to skip steps because they have a hunch that everything is going to be all right. I want explorers and those working on the edges to use the wisdom of their team when they commit to a course of action but also have clarity under what circumstances they will re-evaluate their decisions.

We are all working on projects that matter. Our enterprises require us to make decisions that have significant impact. How we decide is often as important as what we decide.

Maximizing the Moment

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Sometimes the moment is not as we planned, but if we are committed we can create a memorable moment. More than once I have found myself enduring a long airport layover. The choice is to settle into a corner, connect to wifi, and hope time passes quickly. Or, I can go explore. Last week I spent over an hour running on the top level of parking garages as Houston International Airport (GPS running route screenshot above). After a little adventuring I discovered three of the parking facilities were connected via a causeway and exterior stairs making for a bigger loop. As I ran I watched the arrival and departure of everything from small commuter jets to large Airbus A380s. Because I opted to be a bit adventurous, I ran into a South American soccer team, rode an airport train that was comically slow and small, and gained access to an airport hotel lounge that had a phone which rang ceaselessly. All these events are far more memorable than most airport clubs, except for when I sat next to Dr. Oz at LAX but that is a different layover story.

Partnerships

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The above image is a screenshot from a mesmerizing GIF simulating the outcome of two planets colliding. The result is more spectacular than what existed prior to impact. At the moment of impact, the forces are overwhelming but tracking the calibration of all the pieces over time is fascinating. Rare is the opportunity to ponder the benefits of putting ourselves on a collision course with another uniquely positioned entity.

Partnership is rarely a strategy that receives big headlines. We are often defined by our individual role and if we do not succeed we hope somebody might rescue us. Independence is such a highly valued characteristic that it often outweighs the consideration of joining forces. We continuously challenge the African proverb, ‘If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.’ Why not go fast and alone is a modern day response.

In education we frequently force collaboration. Refrains such as, pair-up with a partner, read with a buddy, assemble in presentation groups, grades will be given for teamwork, are common in schools. Adulthood tilts on an axis of employing our individual abilities. We may adore that Harry Potter and his friends overcome unfathomable odds to move from one heroic quest to another, but we are encouraged to return to the mountain man model of centuries prior. We explore the wilderness alone for long periods before reassembling at periodic rendezvous to share tales.

Consider working the concept of partnerships into the next generative conversation. Who would be on our dream team? What are the possible transformative outcomes of a shared journey? What is the authentic help wanted sign that would make us respond immediately? What stories would a partnership make possible? Who might join our tribe if we were doing the work that matters? What value could we deliver that eludes us now?

What-if-concepts

Empowering those who inspire so they excel at the work that matters.