wayfinding

Mature Metrics

Our metrics may change as the organization matures. The number of days in business might be useful as the enterprise launches but becomes muted after a few years. The number of customers enrolled might change to the number of people on the waiting list. Total work accomplished might transition to workflow by category. As we scale and/or refine our approach we get better data and more options to generate metrics. Netflix is no longer going to share the total number of subscribers. They are going to focus on subscriber milestones.

What measurements need evolution in your enterprise? Which ones continue to provide value?

Disembark

Do the people who benefit from your services know where to disembark? At the upper terminal of a ski lift, signs provide clarity on when to return to downhill ski mode. In an academic setting, final exams and/or graduation define the transition. But if you are an arts organization, is there a point of disembarkation? How about an environmental conservation group. What if we build the most sustainable residential structure and place all our property in a conservation easement? Do we uncouple from a land trust’s work?

The embarkation and disembarkation phases run the gamut from ‘obvious’ to ‘it is complicated.’ If uncertain, ta leading strategy is to remain in communication. I support causes in other regions because they are committed to sustained dialogue. I withdrew my engagement with an enterprise next door because they ghosted me.

Future Me

When my son confronts a problem he does not want to tackle in real time, he says, ‘That is a future me problem.’ Future Me gets assigned some of the most demanding and daunting items. What if we made a list of the future me problems? How many would become part of your enterprise’s strategic framework? It is painless to leverage the most important to the future while addressing the most urgent in the moment.

Counter-Intuitive

Adding a water bottle under the front of a cyclist’s jersey made them more aerodynamic. For years, conventional wisdom assumed the frontal area benefited from a more streamlined presence to achieve higher speeds. However, employing a water bottle acted like a fairing, increasing the cyclist’s potential average speed.

What pieces of conventional wisdom has your enterprise decided to suspend? A fundraising consultant evangelized that capital campaign asks for charitable donations should only be made while seated inside, signifying the request’s sincerity. An acquaintance decided they could only connect with distinct donors during recreational activities. They secured leadership commitments from key supporters while on the ski lift, golfing, mountain biking, and fishing. If they had waited for the prescribed moments, they anticipated a missed opportunity.

Navigation

If we rely on visual aids to operate our enterprise, we are restricted from functioning in challenging environments. If we have invested in more sophisticated guidance systems, we can launch our programs even when we cannot see the horizon.

What navigational aids does your cause utilize to remain oriented during tumultuous conditions? What has worked, and what has failed your team?

Emergency service agencies require routine equipment checks to ensure the vital gear for a response remains operational and accessible. If we leave our Emergency Operating Plan in a binder on a shelf and wait for the emergency, we may learn there are unintentional gaps. Facilitated scenario training may be the wisest investment your cause can make to practice and learn in a controlled setting.

The Route or Horizon

Are you more enthusiastic about the route or the horizon line? Does the idea of travel or the destination resonate more? If you could time travel to the journey in progress or the arrival back home, which would you select? Knowing our preferences influences our mindset. Our mindset prioritizes which aspect of the adventure we deem most important. All of these aspects will allow us to put our signature on the way forward.

Real-Time Decisions

If we make real-time decisions, be aware of our mindset and the moment we decide. No skiers were riding the chairs in front of me, there was no snow on the south slopes, and nobody was skiing the mogul run below the chairlift. A good observation in real time might be that it is time to shift the ski area’s operations to a minimal viable status. The snapshot does not capture that both photos were taken in the last minutes of the ski day for this part of the mountain; everyone had departed or was exiting via other runs.

How might we balance the long view with the immediate facts? How might we remain more holistic when there is a variance in the budget, a blip in enrollment, a change to a donor’s giving habits, a shift in how board members attend meetings or a disruption experienced by a peer organization? How might we prioritize a culture of curiosity over the desire to fix the immediate issue?

Feeling Facts
https://www.gapingvoid.com/daniel-kahnemans-legacy-the-myth-of-reason/

What fact do you know to be true? Have you confirmed the hypothesis? I know gravity is a generally agreed-upon truth, but I do not completely comprehend the science and mathematical equations that prove its existence. When I run, I expect my feet to reach for the ground and strike with some level of force. My gut senses this before my brain.

When approached to support a cause and an organizational advocate starts with data, I often ask them for their story about how they got interested in the work. Enter the engagement with a narrative and shift to confirmation with facts. For this reason, I commence consulting engagements with Magnetic North, which involves the articulation of purpose, vision, mission, and values. My experience has confirmed most participants show greater attachment to the purpose and values because those articulations better capture emotions. The vision and mission trend toward factual representations.

How might we embrace emotions, even when we retain overwhelming research that confirms our impact?

Belt Buckle

The American West cherishes a good belt buckle. It is even more admired if the buckle is won in a competition such as a rodeo, futurity, or pleasure horse event.

If you presented your team with the outline of a blank belt buckle on a sheet of paper and asked each to create a customized drawing or representation of your cause, what designs might be developed? In facilitating this exercise in organizational retreats, I have witnessed some remarkable results with symbols and icons that range from iconic to obscure.

Consider this icebreaker at your next retreat.