Innovative Concepts

What Conversation is Required?

This is not about an NFL team with a controversial name. Rather the attention surrounding the Washington, DC football team is the headwaters for a greater conversation. Who determines what is respectful and appropriate? There is not secret and august committee to hands down decrees. We have to wrestle with words, context, intent, and community consensus. Each one of us plays a pivotal role. Just renaming an NFL football team misses the big question. I suspect there are hundreds of college, high school, semi-pro, and club teams that will need to engage their fans and communities in dialogue about the appropriateness of how they refer to themselves. If renaming is deemed the best course of action, what to call ourselves now? There will be no quick fix, unless we are seeking compliance. This topic demands a dialogue. Many people need to be heard and express their opinions. Only through conversation and story-telling can we find our way. Community values do not cascade from re-branding campaigns. They generate from our beliefs. We must believe in order to act with meaning and purpose.

Your Slide Carousel

If our worldview is informed by a conglomeration of past experiences, assumptions, and values then what images sit between us and reality? How does our projection of the world differ from those with their own set of slides? What stories manifest themselves?

Craftsmanship or Demolition

It is easy to take something down, especially with permission to break stuff during the process. Demolishing the interior of a house for a remodel takes only a moment. The demo phase reveals the framework. Rebuilding requires craftsmanship. Care must be taken to assemble the pieces in the best order with attention to detail.

It does not take much skill to demolish an event, a position, or an enterprise. Break trust, loyalty, permission, and authenticity and most organizations will fail quickly. Nurturing these characteristics is a form of craftsmanship. We cannot fake authenticity. Rather we state what we believe and act in a manner that is consistent with it our belief. Trust is earned by action and recommendation. Loyalty is passing up a better opportunity to continue our relationship.

Breaking is fine and sometimes recommended. Be transparent about our plans to rebuild or change course, otherwise we have simply created the base for an expensive bonfire.

For Your Remarkable Journey

Honored to present at the ClearRock Capital Conference on the topic of “Edgecraft” this week. The gathering offers an opportunity to share resources that I find remarkable and I hope will be of service and create value to your journey to the edge.

Seth Godin’s ‘Edgecraft‘ blog post

John Kotter’s leading change theory

Scenic Hudson’s gala honoring its critical partnering organizations

Jia Jang World Domination talk on the power of rejection

Crash Course with John and Hank Green. It is free and highly engaging.

Teton Valley Ranch Camp’s search for a new home

Charity Water’s Instagram account setting a high level of engagement

The $100 Startup innovator’s guide by Chris Guillebeau to invest in yourself

Khan Academy flipping the classroom where content is learned at home and mastery takes place in the classroom

Duolingo’s creator Luis von Ahn online scale collaboration TEDx talk. Learning a language adds value and provides a remarkable service

Holderness School’s residential life project creates a new definition of community and leadership

Generative Thinking sample questions. What if we gave ourselves permission to embrace ambiguity and our identity?

Decisive (the book) Resource Page with Chip and Dan Heath. Paving a new way for decision-makers.

The Present changing time and art

Howard Hallis, The Picture of Everything

Do You Need a New Question?

Do you need a path to follow in order to have maximum impact? Are you trying to obtain top speed and the highest level of efficiency regardless of the direction? What are you uniquely positioned to offer your community? If you retraced your steps, would it add value or do you require a new route every time out? What opportunity if it appeared would make you change course? What assumption is holding you back? How do you know? If you could move the frame what part of your world would you place in the center? What would you leave out?

We ask generative questions constantly but do we give ourselves permission to explore the answers? To wrestle with the abstract? Seth Godin encourages us to pick ourselves. Chris Brogan reminds us that nobody is going to give us permission, permission was granted long ago for each of us.

What is the most important question you need to ask?

Pilot Boat

If you did not have to self-discover the best route all the time but could rely on a guide, would you change your destination? Often, we avoid the rocky coastline because the consequences of failure are too high. However, there are individuals who have local knowledge and are glad to join your enterprise for a short period to help navigate. When we ask for specific directions we may be amazed at what arrives.

Lag

Is information lag causing challenges for your enterprise? Social sector organizations often rely on their Annual Report to summarize a year’s worth of success but some information is already over 300-days old. Quarterly investment reports provide insights to market trends that may have been relevant two-months ago. Sports talk shows debate the past weekend games with the certainty of a poker player competing against an opponent who tips their hand. We reboot our devices when the audio and visual imagine are mere fractions of a second out of synch. We hang-up and restart conference calls when the audio has an echo or delay. We consider passing another vehicle that is not moving with the flow of traffic.

Lag gets attention. It can inspire (a day in the wilderness with no technology) or infuriate (slow airline check-in kiosk when running late for a flight). Lag can be powerful. Historical events come into focus over time, Impressionist painter’s work is now admired more fervently, and scientific trends can be reinforced with additional data points over time. Lag can be costly. Not having the real-time information as the other decision-makers, soliciting for a contribution with anecdotes from prior years, or asking for help one step too late.

Employ lag to your benefit, instead of relying on tradition to dictate its application.

Flipping “No”

We cannot be all things to all people. However, our values can be evident in all our interactions. Seth Godin recently wrote about using our words to be a positive force. We can be remarkable simply by flipping our message from negative to the positive. There are enough “No Parking” signs in the world that we are selectively blind to their existence. Changing the message can make for memorable results. Finding a positive way to communicate develops trust and loyalty, even when we are asking others to refrain from an activity they enjoy.

A Lesson from One Club

Golfer Bubba Watson recently played a round using one golf club, foregoing the 13 other clubs allowed in his bag during competition. He said the experience helped him develop his skills and also changed the routine. What are ways to break-up the routine of meetings within organization. Here are some ideas:

Off-site meetings (new location, travel related, even a different room)
Invite guest speaker
Meet with another board (partnering organization, similar size different sector, mentoring organization)
Active experience (river rafting, hike, bowling, scavenger hunt)
Attend conference
Hire facilitator
Webinar or online class
Group read- read the same book/article/packet in advance
Generative thinking agenda
Scenarios from a hat (hat tip to Whose Line is it Anyway)- select random scenarios for brainstorming sessions
Listening tour
Online poll (for board, membership, community)
Show and Tell- bring one idea from another enterprise that may benefit organization/operations
Speed Networking- one-on-one sessions for board and staff members to get to know each other
Change seating arrangement (new layout, standing only, bean bags, etc)
Invite past board members back for update and advice
Start meeting with a mini-TED Talk from one board/staff member
Spark- reflect on how organizations best ideas were generated
Graphic facilitation- illustrate the organization’s current status and future potential graphically

What-if-concepts

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