Innovative Concepts

BSU Resources

IMG_0064I was provided the great pleasure of spending time with students enrolled in Ann Heilman’s Boise State University Nonprofit Class.  It is always a rewarding opportunity to share insights and gain the group’s reflection and wisdom.  I created less than fully formed responses to their tremendous questions and promised more resources via this blog.

Highly Recommended Books:

  • Daring Greatly by Brene Brown
  • Decisive: How to Make Better Decisions by Chip and Dan Heath or Nudge: Improving Decisions About Health, Wealth, and Happiness by Thaler and Sunstein
  • Linchpin or Tribes by Seth Godin

Generative Question List link

Facilitation Guide for presenting Simon Sinek’s Golden Circle

Joseph Campbell: Hero’s Journey

Landscape

IMG_0048Where we exist within our landscape changes how people perceive us.  Understanding our backdrop transforms the ability to build trust and authenticity.  An individual armed with a squeegee at a red light generates a different response than a community car wash which benefits a cause we care about.  One represents a transaction and the other is an invitation to merge narratives.  In what landscape do we each operate?

Shattered Glass

I have been running on a trail littered with shards of glass.  They are the remains from a bottle broken in the area earlier this summer.  I have picked-up numerous pieces but broken parts continue to surface, as if they are capable of rejuvenating ceaselessly.  They embed in my shoes, bike tires, and dog’s paws.  An act months ago continues to impact trail users.

What do we do that leaves equally enduring marks?  Words of praise.  Highlighting the dedicated efforts of peers.  Celebrating successes.  Making positive personal recommendations.  Shaming others into compliance.  Withholding vital information.  Speaking poorly of others without given them a chance to address the situation.

We are uniquely positioned each day to define a moment with the generosity of painter Charles Russell’s use of light or break a bottle in the trail and watch its pieces obstruct the progress of others.

Asking for Help

We can ask for people to help us in a many ways.

Seeking help

Help to overcome an obstacle

Emergency help

Nowhere to turn help

Screen Shot 2015-09-10 at 7.41.40 AMInnovative help

Charitable help

How we ask for assistance will not resonate with everyone.  The human element is a critical component.  Our interaction has to add to both the giver and recipients stories.  We can be jaded at one request and moved deeply by another.  Not everyone is will respond.  Not every request is aligned with the values of others.  What if we stop trying to create the most influential campaign and instead worked on launching the most honest.  Sometimes we spend so much time on the message that we forget to ask others to join our journey.

Boundary Line

IMG_9762Where do we encounter boundaries?  Some are visible and others require prior knowledge to know where they exist.  Organization’s have boundaries.  We discover them when we attempt new ideas that will move the enterprise closer to the edge.  No matter how much fuel and momentum we have for the journey inevitably a counter movement will try to stop the advance.  Mapping boundaries is unpredictable an imprecise.  One way to make them visible is to launch an initiative and see who and what joins the effort and where the forces that are running against you appear.

A few questions to consider:  What wouldn’t we do as an organization?  Why?  What would the board that follows think about our current deliberations?  If failure is a distinct possibility what is worth attempting anyway?  Is this boundary sacred or intentional and when do we last discuss its merits?  What if another enterprise makes remarkable progress on the frontier we are unwilling to enter?  Would we reconsider if someone else goes first?  Are we trying to be safer or better?

The Next Board

Stuck trying to resolve a challenging situation.  Consider the board that will succeed the current board.  What will they think?  What questions will they ask?  Who’s perspective might they seek?  How would distance from the emotions surround the current situation advance their dialogue?

Chip & Dan Heath’s WRAP model presented in their book, Decisive has been a great resource for addressing big questions.  I encourage groups to try it out on low-risk decisions before using it on a burning platform.

Keyhole

We do not always have to open a door, sometimes we just need to find a keyhole and allow ourselves passage into the next room.  Some obstacles are far more daunting if we have to overcome them entirely.  Crossing a mountain stream does not always require building an entire bridge or rerouting the stream.  A couple well placed stones or a fallen tree allows us to move on with our journey, unyielding to an impediment that was not our primary purpose to solve.  Make our pathway visible and others will follow.