Scale

What if we consider our life on a macro scale. There is a birth, some activity, we perish. It is a narrative that has been repeated billions of times. If we change the aperture to a bit finer detail, a person was born in a specific decade, received an education, worked a job, retired, and then died. Not remarkable, but a bit more specific. If we zoom in much further, we could fill novels with an exhaustive list of each second of a person’s life. One speculates that a meta-analysis would confirm that no two people have lived the same life.


How we talk about our work, the impact of our cause and the narrative that defines our quest depends on scale. Too much detail, and we lose our audience. Too little detail, and we are generic and miss detailing our signature superpower.


How might we find the optimal scale to share our story? Some narratives need a sentence and others a page or more. What has worked for you?

Not All Tracks

Not all tracks take us on a remarkable journey. Some might be to a siding, rail yard, dockyard, or an abandoned line. When we strike out on an adventure, we are embracing the unknown. Worrying about ‘what if’ does little to depth and dimension to our experience. How might we ask ourselves if we are encountering a point of action or a point of information when we approach the next junction? It is easy to confuse an intersection of information for an action point and feel the urge to switch tracks. How might we embrace the ambiguity and serendipity fundamental to our quest?

Your Signature

What is uniquely you (or your cause)? How does it present itself? How playful are you in adding your secret signature/touch to the little details? Disney places ‘hidden Mickeys’ throughout their properties and products. There is a sub-culture of people looking for your niche and how it might present itself through your enterprise.

How might you add an extra touch to your signature?

Purpose Is More Powerful

Is the castle tower intended to be imposing, inspiring, fortifying, impressive, visible, instill a sense of security, defensive, offensive, a deposit for valuable, a landmark, or a symbol of power. It might be multiple things and more but it works better if we know the purpose before construction. We can build a better version when we know who we intend to serve and the primary function.

How might we clarify purpose before building? It might help us craft a better version.

This is not the sign you are looking for…

Outdated content that has been abandoned by the side of the trail is confusing at best and perhaps liter. Faded, inaccurate, confusing, and left over from a previous project. How many outdated messages do we leave throughout our organization? On our websites, in our facility, among our rituals, or even in current activities? Do we even see these legacy symbols anymore? Is there a process where someone outside our enterprise might help us identify what has become unseeable?

Enter Here

How we welcome those we aspire to serve makes a difference, and it establishes a mindset and displays our core values. There is an opportunity to design with intention, engage, inspire, and energize. Equally, one can create the mundane, limit expectations, and secure the lowest common denominator. How do you welcome your team members? Is it unique and worthy of comment, or does it feel like roll call in a high school classroom?