The Value of the Design Process and Graphic Facilitation in Training and Strategy

I will be presenting on February 26, 2008 in Akron. Click here to find out more!

Managing Our Humanness

If we have belly buttons, we are human. Being human we are endowed with a host of really great capabilities – really good things. These capabilities can create right thinking and right acting, however we can right think and right act for all the wrong reasons. It has been said that no one looks into the crib of their newborn child and says. “How can I screw up this kid’s life?” Nonetheless, our good intentions can foster something other than good results because we have belly buttons – because we are human. We are not perfect we can only balance what we have for the best possible outcome. Consider these ways in which to manage our humanness when dealing with an issue.

Overcome the belly button syndrome (when enough is enough)

Whether we actually have distinct brain levels, we do know that the brain functions in three ways. These three ways make up the Triune Brain. The Triune brain consists of:

• The reptilian brain - am I safe, comfortable and are the basic needs to sustain my life available (food, water, shelter)?
• The mammalian brain – am I loved, cared for, respected and recognized as an individual and as part of a group?
• The primate brain –can I think my through new situations based on what I know and my ability to reform information and knowledge in such a way to adapt to the new situation?

The difficulty we run into being belly button based, is when we get stuck in any one of these functions and begin to examine our belly buttons. We do too much in one area to the detriment of the others and to the issue at hand. The ways and ramifications of stuckness in these areas get us stuck in.

Concerns for our safety and survival (reptilian brain)

The most common reference heard lately regarding this area is called the “amygdala hijack”. Deep in our brain lies the amygdala which when activated through fear or anger focuses our brain on the danger at hand and mobilizes the rest our functions for the purpose of safety. To do so, it shuts down the other functions of the brain. We know longer feel (mammalian) or think logically (primate) which keep us from functioning as fully human. While this had a very valuable function when physical survival (eat or be eaten) was our primary concern and still has an important function during physical threats (robbery, physical harm, natural disasters). It does, however, far less for us in perceived threats such as:

• Potential job loss or demotion
• Organizational change
• Lack of recognition or appreciation
• An offhanded remark or lack of response from others
• Differences in communication (learning styles, ethnic and cultural differences)
• Role and gender differences

Concerns for our personhood

We all have the need to be loved and be recognized. People deprived of such exposure, in the extreme, have severe mental and physical difficulties the results of which can handicap them for life. While all of us don’t get all the love and attention we want, on the whole we get all we need. It is human to want to transcend our humanness and be something greater. Finish on time and under budget, to stand above the rest is a vision that propels us into long hours and dreams of promotion, recognition and wealth. But we do have belly buttons – we are human and are finite. While there are times we may be able to reach our lofty goals, as humans we can mostly do the best until we can do better.

Embrace your belly button (when good enough is enough for now)

We can only work with what we have and though we have a lot, we are not unlimited. Analysis paralysis happens when we avoid movement because we don’t have all the information and "feel” ready. This may stem from the old notion of “get it right the first time” and while in our past when plans and results had a shelf life of more than a 90 day planning cycle this may have been possible. Today, it is not. Despite our desire and efforts to get it right the first time and hit the target at the bulls eye, today the target moves, the bulls eye is not always at the center and we often can’t wait until all the darts are in our hands. We see it every day:

• Jobs we have targeted are frozen due to a downturn in the market
• Regulations change, forcing unwanted interruptions in our service and product delivery
• New competition ignites a cost war and a once well held position of product and service quality comes under question
• A rise in benefit costs forces a change in the workforce development and planning

How can we possibly be right? The better solution is to accept as humans, in a dynamic, global market, we will never be perfect, data will not always be complete and tools may not always be at the ready. Accepting this we can then do with what we have and complete our best efforts at a healthy cycle of development. The effectiveness of the turnkey answer is diminishing. So is the one time solution. In its place we need to create multiple cycles of development and delivery adjusting along the way through subsequent low cost, quick cycles. It all started with Micro Soft and Apple. The good artist ships knowing that no work of art is complete. It is only done for now. Embrace you belly button. Accept your humanness. Do the best you can for now. Move on.

Stay Warm

It seems odd that the most celebrated holidays take place when it's dark and cold. Most especially during this time in history when the darkness and coldness are seemingly coming from sources other than nature.

And then, maybe not.

My house having burned to the ground, I can now see the moon.

It's when it is coldest and darkest that we seek the warmth and comfort of light. And it is especially important that we realize this at a time both seasonally and in this season of history. Light does not come from wealth and presents and holiday outfits and sumptuous food and elaborately decorated homes. It comes from each other. When we strip away all these, we realize that the real reason for the season is to come together and celebrate life. For many, this has been a season of where the house has burned to the ground - much or all has been stripped away. For others it is the cold, dark fear that it might. Not being held by the promise of its trappings, it is a time of opportunity to be involved in this season's true intent. Come together. Hope. Don't stay out in the cold.

No amount of darkness can overcome a single ray of light

Hope is a powerful thing. It is the tiniest, warm ray in the deepest, coldest darkness and it increases as we bring our lights together. A chord of three strands is not easily broken. My wish is that the holidays bring us together so that in going forward into the New Year will keep us close and warm and strong.

Have a happy Holiday and a safe and prosperous New Year!

And thank you for reading my blog in 2008!

What good is an idea?

I recently completed some work with a group who is starting a viable business based on a concept that is coming to fruition. It started as an idea between a small group of people who were passionate and saw a need. They found the white space that exists between businesses already in their market and are finding ways to connect, improve the whole and be sustainable to ensure the wholeness.

Their approach is original - true innovation.

It has been hard work and they have been active in the process having spent the last two years physically involved to prove an idea they had been thinking about for a long time. They are now structuring the business and giving it a life. They are moving beyond themselves and are getting funding, advice, and help outside their areas of expertise.

So what good is an idea?

I did a quick search on the internet on how many thoughts we humans have a day and found anywhere between a couple of thousand to somewhere on the order of 60,000 to 70,000 thoughts. WOW! Somewhere among those numbers lie the many ideas we have to improve our current situations, heal our pasts and build success in the future. So, what is the value of an idea? Actually not much!

I have had the good fortune to work with many companies and individuals on ideas that could heal, solve current issues and grow their future. Ideas are not good or bad – they are only useful or not. If useful, what can float or sink an idea is as numerous as drops of water in the ocean. However, some generalizations can be made.

An idea can come too early

An idea that is too immature can fall victim to lack of viewpoints. This typically happens when we don’t want to see what will make an idea fail and it is the only viable way we think we have. We hoard it, hide it and coddle it.

I once had client that had a product idea, $10,000 and a plan to build it out of his garage. The plan was based on a few conversations, no marketing research, or plan to find other funding, partnerships or alliances, and a steely determination to become a millionaire. I fired myself from the project.

An idea can come too late

This can happen when we hold on too long or ask too late for input from others. When we wait too long to act on an idea either from fear of exposure or over analysis we can see our idea come to fruition at the hands of someone else. How many ideas have you had that have shown up in the marketplace, in your industry or company looking rather familiar to your own idea?

I remember the movie, Nightshift with Michael Keaton. It’s a pretty old movie and I am not sure it has made it to DVD, but in it Keaton plays a directionless character spending part of his time dictating ideas into his microcassette recorder (I told you it was old). He claims to have come up with the idea of Q-Tip swabs on his own, but someone else came up with it first. Sound familiar?

The other side is the lack of robust solutions when working on an idea. Have you ever had an idea shut down because some crucial information either through research or a knowledgeable person came too far down the development cycle to be integrated?

As a member of a large consulting firm, I managed a skills database and answered requests from other consultants on people in the firm who had specific skills building project teams and devising marketing plans. I got a call one day from an executive in the firm who had just found out that the competition was rolling out a service line based on a certain set of competencies and wanted to know who we had who could also provide these services. My search netted two people with a base set of knowledge in that area. It took two years of catch up at great expense in training, marketing and proposing to create a viable presence in that market - waiting too long with available signals in the market, put revenue at risk.

Our ideas are our own

The concept of owning our own ideas, destinies, fate, etc. is relatively new in civilization. Prior to today’s thinking, inventors, artists, scientist, philosophers and the like saw ideas and inspiration as a gift from God or the Gods. They considered themselves only a vehicle for their expression. They were driven beyond their own interests and saw their work as a mission. Relatively few, if any, Renaissance artists signed their work for the felt they were not the owners. One such exception was Michelangelo:

Michelangelo chiseled his name in his famous Pieta fearing he would not get credit. Known for his egotism, he nonetheless regretted this action for the rest of his life.

We are not in and of ourselves whole, our thoughts represent something more than our own egotistic need for power. We need more than ourselves.

Ideas can be controlled

Ideas are like everything else. Although conceived in our internal environments (our brains), ideas get life outside of us. Like children, conceived internally, we learn over time how little control we have over them as they mature and take on their own lives. Ideas must have their own lives in time – we can only be a part of their growth. We have to be good parents, managers, stewards of our ideas. In the book, Parenting through Love and Logic, it identifies the styles of parenting that influence positive growth and those that hamper, handicap or destroy growth. It’s a great philosophy for parenting and transitions into some powerful direction for business and concepts. For the purpose of this discussion, two ways of hampering ideas were inspired from the Love and Logic reading.

Overprotecting an idea

When we over protect an idea, hide it, hoard and don’t expose it to the light of reality, it withers. Not unlike children, ideas need light and life and other inputs beyond us. Without, it never gains the resistance it needs to exist in the outside world. Ideas need conflict and resolution, as no idea is conceived in maturity, it only grow in that direction through hard work and renewal. To come back as a mature business, product or service we have to let go a little and respect its need for other influences.

Overexposing an idea

We can alternately expose an immature idea too widely and too quickly having not given it the time it needs to mature and find its own way. When our egos get in the way and an idea serves only to show the world our brilliance, it can serve to prove just the opposite. It’s the classic pride before the fall. Not being a responsible steward to the idea and not working in its best interest we lose the perspective we need to make it work.

What have you seen that make ideas float or sink? I welcome your comments.

Happy Thanksgiving

If the only prayer you said in your whole life was, "thank you," that would suffice. ~Meister Eckhart

Happy Thanksgiving and Thank You!

Now What?

Now that we have selected a new president, which has brought an unparalleled response from voters and the global community alike, what do we do? Some people couldn’t be more energized with a vision of hope and prosperity, others see their hopes dashed. And neither can relish the privilege of their feelings. The energy, passion and spirit of Americans that this produced on both sides of the political color wheel have created a power base. For those with hope and those who felt they have lost it is an opportunity that will not be affected by one person in the form of president. For those who see this as a positive situation and for those who don’t, it is a call to be more. The situation is the situation that can only be brought to a positive outcome by our attitude. The energy that brought all of us into the community of voters to cast our ballots needs to be the same energy that brings us into the community of issues. Each one of our votes has counted and each one of our efforts will do the same and in community we can heal the boundaries that keep us from acting in concert. For our differences are not what makes our country great, it is what he have done with them as Americans that has made the difference.

Vote

We are in an unparalleled time in history. We live in a world of plenty. We have access to all the information in recorded history and it is at our fingertips. Its access is immediate. We can find and communicate with anyone, anywhere in the push of a button. Yet despite all of our modern advances, we are facing a challenging time not caused by what the world does or does not give us, but by what we do or do not give ourselves and others. In the face of economic hard times, we suffer least from the lack of resources and most from our own lack of spirit.


Tuesday is this country’s time and our time to move into a new place, a better place. Two candidates are vying for the leadership of our country and we have received no small amount of information, both good and bad. Lines are drawn as to the candidate that is the better to lead the country based on platform, constituency, and years of experience. I have my candidate and you have your candidate. And whereas we may differ, we are all bound by one common purpose – the country in which we live and prosper so well that even in bad times we do better than the majority of people inhabiting this planet. We may differ in candidate, but we all want one thing – health and prosperity and since we all want it, the health and prosperity must be for all. While my candidate may differ from yours, my prayer and the prayer I hope for all of us is that on the day after the election, our next elected leader will open all our hearts to being one country, not delineated by the colors of red and blue, but of one spirit. But that can’t happen.


It can’t happen, unless we start by uniting in one spirit at the polls. Making time in our busy hectic day, driving through the traffic, standing in long lines, smiling and talking to friends and strangers and casting our ballots is the fuel that will fire the spirit of whoever is our next president. We can’t elect spirit, we can’t demand a better new and better place, we have to be the spirit – VOTE!