Even those considered the best at their position can maximize their skill sets and leverage the system they inhabit. We can play the same position by name but our specific talents determine our role.
Recasting Ubitquitous
There are words, events, and places we encounter daily. They almost become blind spots as we travel through our daily routines. Then somebody comes along and reframes the familiar. We see it differently even when it is embedded in our routines.
Scale
We see things as we understand them until we are provided with a unique perspective or context. A pigeon in a city is almost universal. A pigeon statue named Dinosaur on the High Line in New York City takes on a distinct dimension.
How might we provide context for our work? Otherwise, it may be diminished or expanded to the most common form.
Speculation
Tickets for Game 7 of the 2024 World Series are on sale. You can commit to an experience that has a low percentage of taking place with the Dodgers leading 3 games to zero already. How often do we speculate? What resources are we willing to commit to an event that is unlikely to take place? What does this tell us about our priorities?
One Idea
What is one idea that you are not prepared to sacrifice? It may be simple or complex but you feel it is worthy of exploration. Why does this concept remain on the ‘to do’ list while others come and go?
Icebreaker
Quick icebreaker activity for your team. Provide a timeframe (3 months, 1 year, duration of board service term, etc.) and ask each individual to write down an event, milestone, or moment that they are personally looking forward to reaching. Place these on an internal calendar (as best you can) and then acknowledge them as they are achieved, passed, or become evident.
The organization’s highlights are not always the same as those of the individual team members. Recognizing individual milestones helps add a shared sense of service and accomplishment. As an added bonus, it is a nice way to start a meeting and build deeper connections.
Hour of Youth
This moment is the youngest you will ever be, at least in the chronology of conventional time as we define it. What activities and areas of focus are deserving of your current youth? If you map our attention over a day, did we invest it in activities and interactions that maximized our youthful capabilities? We cannot bank it for tomorrow, so how are we spending our youthful resources today?
Earn the Relationship
Transactional human connections might be defined as associations, alliances, tie-ups, interconnections, and links. We earn trust through authentic interactions to define our connection as a relationship. What defines a meaningful relationship to you? How do you add depth and dimension to a treasured relationship? How disconnected are you willing to stretch from someone you trust before the relationship has been repaired or fractured? Is your limit more or less dynamic than a similar journey with an associate or alliance member?
How might we recognize that we earn relationships? How might we acknowledge that we have limited bandwidth and cannot foster limitless relationships? What steps have others taken to merit their relationships with you? What super powers do you bring to a relationship?
We the People
Dedicated to serving others, perhaps start with the perspective of ‘we.’ A marching band of one person might be unique but likely limited in their capabilities. If we work together, we can achieve a level of performance and impact that might not be available to those who focus on their individual status. Even if the stadium is not full, we deliver for those who are looking to engage with what we have to offer.
Return on Investment
The above chart lists college degrees that have the best return on investment. Would your decision on which major to pursue or recommend to your child alter due to this data? If their passion was to teach, would you steer them away due to the projected lack of economic benefit? If they had a pathway to an engineering degree might you devote additional resources to make sure they benefited from the future forecasted earnings?
What program and resource allocation decisions have your enterprise made based on the calculations for return on investment? What if you are uniquely positioned to act but the momentary reward is not sufficient? Where does return on investment rank in your priority of screen questions when debating the merits of future strategy?
What-if-concepts 