What is your personal cathedral? What place, mindset, aroma, taste, touch, etc, delivers you the ability to contemplate your existence? How do you manifest it for yourself? How do you provide that tranquility and reflection to those you serve?
What is your lightning rod? Is it a topic, program, activity, political position, person, facility, partnership, etc.? What creates immediate thunderstorms for you cause when the item is brought up in conversation? How have you grounded it so the repercussions are not so volatile? What has worked successfully, and what is still a work in progress? How do you orient new members of your team to the topic? Are you hoping to wait the storm out, are you taking active steps to reduce the impact, or do you allow it to short out the enterprise’s work every time it strikes?
If you had an hour to take key supporters on a tour of your enterprise, which stops would you include? Who would narrate? Who would you invite as guests and as representatives of the cause? Would it be primarily sightseeing, or would there be an immersive opportunity?
How might we pre-plan our itineraries for those who wish to know more about how we serve so we are not just pointing and walking when the opportunity presents itself?
Are you seen?
Who do you see?
How do you process what you have witnessed? Does it inspire, does it distract, does it deter, does it confuse?
Most of us want to be seen by somebody who believes what we believe. We want the tribe to benefit from our work and inspire those on a similar journey. Being viewed is often enough to keep us committed to climbing our selected route.
What is your soundtrack, and how is it played? If you are a church bell, the signature striking of the bell is played frequently during acceptable community hours. The bells can add dimension to the soundtrack of a community and amplify significant events and historic timestamps.
How does your soundtrack resonate in your region? How does it amplify your work?
The FAA established Air Route Traffic Control Centers (ARTCC). They where not all created at once but they attempt to reflect the volume of flights and major airports that exist within each region. As general aviation pilots or plane spotting enthusiast we might have some depth of understanding as to why certain border exists. However, the genral public probably does not see the immediate rational. When in-flight, it is not obvious that our commercial flight has been handed off from one center to another (unless the air traffic control audio is made available). We assume this works like a trail being routed onto the right tracks when it leaves a large train station.
What systems in our enterprise works like the ARTCC? Which need explanation to those we serve and which ones operate in the background and provide social benefit without being highlighted?
What symbols represent your work? How and where are they displayed for the public attention? If you work as a cobbler, you might hang a silhouette of a shoe over your shop entry. Is is obvious what you do for those seeking what you have to offer?
You might be building a nonprofit, small business, volunteer organization, or new enterprise. You can employ the ‘how to’ template, ask AI to generate a model, and then plug and play. Or, you can craft something remarkable. A version that has not been done before or expands upon the work of somebody who inspires.
Located in the Queen’s House, the Tulip Staircase is an iconic palace feature. It could have been constructed as a simple and functional spiral staircase, but artistic masterwork was prioritized and is a highlight of the house alongside the Armada Portrait of Elizabeth I.
What is your Tulip Staircase? What contains your values and preferences and stands out in form and function?
The Women of the RNLI Exhibit provides depth and dimension to the work of the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) in the United Kingdom. Throughout the exhibit, the impact of the RNLI’s work is highlighted, especially the fact that the institution receives no government support and relies on philanthropy to fund its operations. Making the cost of operations visible is challenging, but when done well, it educates, engages, and calls us to action.
How might we make our work more visible?
What can you not achieve alone but can achieve with a coordinated team of individuals? When we organize, we achieve much more than we might have anticipated. What act of teamwork has surprised you?
What-if-concepts 