After you show your work, what conversation follows? What happens during the next twelve seconds? Why twelve seconds? If our work is profound, we must allow our audience to submerge themselves before forming a thought/action/comment/next area of focus.
What are you projecting? How is it seen by those you encounter along the journey? Does it provide multiple interpretations? What are your expectations?
Do you change your environment to see things in a new light? What do these moments of revision reveal?
Light is considered essential. However, shadows provide depth and dimension to our work. If we capture our creation with the right balance of light and shade, we might add appreciation and better comprehension of our efforts.
If we participate in archeology, gaining a spotlight for our work is formidable. We are as remarkable as the people/objects/history that preceded us and occupied the space where we excavate. If we find something never cataloged before, we can draw much attention. However, our site and work can diminish in significance when an older or more preserved version of our find is discovered elsewhere.
If we are committed to doing the work that matters, we may need to be comfortable making meaningful contributions rather than generating headlines. If we are in it for the glory, then we must be willing to sacrifice long-term gains for short-term attention.
If you are a plane spotter, you can track inbound/outbound flights using an app like Flightradar24. You can see all the relevant information about the aircraft type, destination, speed, altitude, and estimated route online. But you miss the sensation of sitting in a seat as the plane approaches a runway for landing. The noises emitted by deploying the flaps, the landing gear being lowered, the engines varying thrust patterns, the hush of the passenger cabin just before touch-down, and the phenomena of controlled flight.
When we support an enterprise, we are often relegated to flight-tracking mode. We can read the annual reports, review strategic plans, and glance at periodic emails. The majority of our interactions might be fleeting check-ins. We experience the virtual reality version of the in-flight paradigm when we attend a program or visit a site. We get closer to sitting in a passenger seat when we serve on the board or volunteer. The juxtaposition of tracking an organization versus being involved in executing the vision and mission is significant.
How might we provide context for our supporters who are in flight-tracking mode? How might we give the occasional test flight for those interested? Who might we recognize that we have a limited number of seats on the plane and want to populate them with those we serve and a team committed to the voyage?
If you are a member of the traveling cast in the Broadway mega-hit Hamilton, how do you benefit from the DNA embedded by the original cast? With multiple productions worldwide, there are some links back to the original cast members who developed the characters and added depth and dimension to the songs. If you play King George III in a current production, you can trace nuisances to Jonathan Groff, the original performer portraying the Broadway King George. Your performance is calibrated in some measure based on the first iteration.
How might we recognize that when we join a cause, we have some connection to the original cast who started the enterprise? How might we benefit from their insights and add our own perspective as we build the best version of the cause? What transitive properties from the founders have cascaded to your work?
When too many channels are in our direct focus, it is hard to follow all the conversations. Selecting a single focal point may be more effective before switching to another channel. Otherwise, we may appear to cover various topics but lack any depth or dimension.
When we hold a precious stone up to an intense light, it reveals any inclusions and blemishes. We might be utilizing the stone for a purpose that does not require a high grade, or we may intend to make the stone the centerpiece of our work, which would benefit from fewer visible inclusions.
What light do we deploy to explore our organization’s inner workings? Do we have a culture of curiosity that is open to examining our enterprise’s status? Does a generative conversation make us stronger as a team or does it reveal fault lines that create more friction?
Spotting wildlife on a safari can be challenging. Moving across rough tracks in a moving vehicle, looking for subtle clues to reveal a unique viewing opportunity, is part art form and part science. Leopards are incredibly challenging to spot, even when they take shelter in a tree. A safari guide noted that a tail or paw hanging below a branch is often the only signal to reveal the leopard’s presence.
What are the hidden signs that you use to navigate your journey? A backcountry skier may be alerted to high avalanche conditions by hearing snow settle below their skis as they approach a possible ski slope. A board member may seek more follow-up if numerous committee meetings are canceled over a short period. A supporter of a social sector enterprise may be curious when they only receive communications related to philanthropic giving opportunities.
How might we think about the signals we send and receive when doing the work that matters?
What-if-concepts 