How did a mistake change the way skyscrapers are built? How did an engineer take responsibility for a design flaw that required a retrofit and a Red Cross evacuation plan?
How might we recognize that a new question might expose a mistake and allow us to correct our flaws?
If we endeavor to keep our cause in perpetual motion, we might miss the opportunity to address deferred maintenance. Sailors who circumnavigate the globe look for opportunities to lift their boats above the water line to clean the hull and handle other necessary maintenance. To enhance the performance and efficiency of the boat’s movement through the water, the return on investment of a clean hull versus the time lost in port is a formidable decision.
How might we take the same mindset with our enterprises? How might we take time for a generative conversation? How might we address opportunities to improve our governance? How might we reflect upon or update our strategic plan? How might we update our board recruitment roster? How might we test our organizational assumptions?
What is the return on investment if we commit to any of the items mentioned above? What would a transformative moment of pause do for the future journey?
What are the five most important things your organization has forgotten?
What if you invited former board, staff, volunteers, and key insiders back for a round table (virtual, in-person, or hybrid)? If you provide them with an update on the state of the organization and then ask, ‘What are we missing and/or forgetting?‘
I work with several nonprofit boards that have term limits. As board members transition to former board members, the amount of institutional knowledge that evades transfer is overwhelming. It is not always obvious items but often the peripheral pieces.
How might we benefit from those who have proceeded us? How might those who have served continue to fuel the journey with their knowledge and networks? How might ‘end of term’ not mean ‘out of touch?’
Why does the opportunity exist in the first place? A first lens is identifying the opportunity. The work that provides depth and dimension is understanding the conditions that nurtures the opportunity to thrive. How might we not jump into any open lane of travel without a moment of curiosity?
Why is your cause solving the problem it selected? Was there nobody working on it or is there a story?
Barrels of wine are often static, sitting in a wine cave, and stored at a consistent temperature. Yet the fermenting process taking place within the barrels is alive and dynamic.
How might we not mistake static for passive? How about we explore what sits within, under, and around an object that appears to be at rest? A whole ecosystem of life and thought might be evident.
You never know what we might discover when we seek out new experiences and interactions. Staying curious is one of our greatest traits.
What-if-concepts 