wayfinding

Using Words to Solve a Visual Puzzle
Credit: https://www.reddit.com/r/FindTheSniper/comments/1cvyo85/people_are_struggling_to_find_the_frog_in_this/

If we only had our words, how would we direct people to the location of the hidden frog in the above image? We rely on shortcuts to set others up for success, but occasionally, those options are unavailable. So, we must rely on an analog solution in a digital world. It is like remembering a phone number or email address when we are without access to a device that contains all that information.

How might we adapt when our mastered routine is interrupted?

Spoiler Below:

***The hidden frog is less than a half-inch off the right-hand edge, about a third of the way up, appears wearing a purple jacket (leaf), and is the same size as the individual leaves in the illustration. If you start at the bottom right-hand corner and work your way up the edge, stop at the first fully illustrated bright green leaf that touches the border. The frog is immediately to the left, with a purple leaf covering its torso.

Fuel for the Journey

The impact is muted if I eat all my energy bars and drink all my sports drinks in the first half-hour of a six-hour bike ride. If I wait until the final half-hour to consume all my nutrition, the fuel arrives too late to produce a substantive difference. However, the result is much greater if I plan to eat one bar and drink one bottle each hour throughout the ride. A nutrition strategy for my journey allows for a more consistent and sustained effort.

How might we apply this strategy to our own work? How do we ensure we have fuel for our journey delivered at the right intervals?

Why

Why does the opportunity exist in the first place? A first lens is identifying the opportunity. The work that provides depth and dimension is understanding the conditions that nurtures the opportunity to thrive. How might we not jump into any open lane of travel without a moment of curiosity?

Why is your cause solving the problem it selected? Was there nobody working on it or is there a story?

Summit Proximity

Are you more impressed by a climber who is a few yards from the summit or one who has just left the trailhead? Human psychology gives preference to the person closest to the summit. When I am cycling and see another rider in the final minute of a long ascent, there is shared comradery that is not as palpable for the cyclist tackling the initial slopes.

How do we equate the perspective that timing matters? If we climb sooner or later in the day, we encounter other participants in different stages of their journey. Our desire to assign value based on a real-time assessment benefits from a broader picture. Strava creates a virtual leaderboard for cyclists and runners (among others) that can be filtered by day, week, year, or all-time (among other options). We might achieve the best time within a small window, but land pages back in the search of all-time best times.

How might we understand that our current location might impact our value assessment?

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.