Systems Thinking

Horizons

From the ground, our view to the horizon is 3 miles. Peering atop the highest observation deck in the United States, humans can see up to 50 miles on a clear day.

While the foreground of daily activity occupies so much attention, our cumulative culture has always looked to the edge for answers. Whether it’s cresting through the clouds on a flight, that inspiring view from any rooftop, or the simple pleasure of walks around the neighborhood, we love the hope-filled distance of any view. Beyond these moments of beauty, how can we think about edges as we keep building?

Action is obviously required, but staying wild and thinking BIG takes practice. Busy can be addictive and the close proximity to how time is spent makes everything feel pressing. The closer the deadline, the more attention it’s given. Keep the promise of what you’re building, but finding time to think is a mental exercise that nurtures gratitude and often attracts fresh opportunities.

To avoid self limitation, collide ideas into more weird conversations. We can chat with anyone online, so leverage our connected era, but then pour in the serendipity! Show up and with your own eyes, get interested.

As boundaries come and go, avoid where the sidewalk ends and there’s no need to always be first in line. Skyline views await us all from anywhere. Build like this. Linchpins go beyond brainstorming and instead, edgecraft ideas toward reality. Lean into Playforce Principles and continue to ship on the timeline of now. Along with that prerequisite, stay open to next and feel different momentums converging toward that next horizon.

No matter how you get there, the edge is wonderfully wild. Every horizon is different and gratitude ensures we don’t go numb to the raindrop of time we have on earth. Perhaps the thesis of this riff is that one horizon is not the only endpoint. Each extent is just too cosmic to ever be the same. Trap time and enjoy sequencing distant views to hug the curves toward your own horizons.

By Ben McDougal, ago

Sharing

The essence of sharing is kindness.

The way we share forms bonds and creates endless interactions. Shared knowledge, resources, time, and space has led to a connected society that invites everyone to do more with less. The idea of such generosity seems simple, and yet, the focus on our own well-being leads to egocentric sharing that is more selfish in nature. Children fighting over a toy and adults showing off by sharing may seem unrelated, but the histrionic call for attention remains the same.

How then, can we lead without being selfish?

Perhaps harmony lies on a continuum of intent. If we leverage what we have by sharing without recognition, space remains for sharing in ways that may attract the right type/amount of attention. Give, and it will be given to you. Another weighted tactic is to over share without including your own agenda. As Kyle Tut shared during his visit to Des Moines, shill five before asking for one. This 5:1 ratio nurtures selflessness.

In addition to benevolent tactics, a helpful mindset is to just #GiveFirst. When sharing returns to an act of kindness, generosity builds trust, engaged networks flourish, and the spotlight can be given to those who need it.

By Ben McDougal, ago

No Running

“Please walk.” <wait 5 seconds>
“Please walk!” <repeat endlessly>

At the swimming pool, how many times does a lifeguard remind children to walk and why is it so hard for kids to slow down, even when they’ve slipped in the past? Let’s write through why repetitive reminders may be needed to motivate awareness, action, and steadfastness.

The first thing that comes to mind, is how hard it is to get anyone to do anything. Motion requires force, we don’t know what we don’t know, and if action calls for commitment (time, obedience, money, etc.), movement is even harder to inspire.

When we think through the lens of marketing and sales, an easy start is clarity. Does messaging and calls to action immediately resonate with your smallest viable audience?

When it’s time for action, sequencing comes to mind. Conciseness allows first impressions to be more impactful, with connected content to guide newcomers toward more natural action(s).

Lastly, I wish repetition wasn’t a part of the equation, but it’s loud out there! Attention is hard to earn and even harder to maintain. Endless reminders can be annoying, but systems thinking and a strategic cadence ensure more positive encounters supported by lasting clarity. Thoughtful repetition also catches fresh awareness along the way.

Along with helping to connect with an audience, these motivators are important for anything that involves rotating participation as well. Succession can bring healthy revitalization to teams, organizations, and communities, but without clarity, fresh energy can be misguided. If information is not sequenced, the weight of too much information may feel unnecessarily daunting and once again, friendly reminders maintain momentum without a slip or fall.

By Ben McDougal, ago

Sequencing

Perhaps everything is an enumerated collection of objects in which repetitions are allowed and order matters?

Even when it all connects, discovering how endless sequences relate is impossible for even the most methodic mind. Be it system thinking, design thinking, meta-synthesis, neural networking, or whatever mindset you choose, the intensity of such complexity makes it hard to see how a few things connect, let alone immeasurable members in infinite streams.

Machines can add computed awareness, but the squishy nature of each member within a sequence feels like it will remain a futile enigma that will forever transform based on if, who, what, when, where, why, and how something is being observed.

Extra Shot

Nerd alert, but hopefully you’re smiling because that first sentence and many of the terms I’ve sprinkled in, is how a sequence is defined in mathematics.

The processing power required to source the root connection(s) of every moment would paralyze your thoughts. One reason our brain is awesome, is its ability to deduce answers with limited real-time input, but even the way our brain works is like a sequence of positioned memories that provide reasonable assumptions toward what’s next. This saves time and helps us avoid insanity, but it’s interesting how this type of internal sequencing actually mutes the depth of each sequence.

Enjoy the moment and be a serendipitist, but keep a hint on how each member fits into the length of sequenced sequences (not a typo, haha). This mindfulness brews awareness, appreciation, and understandings from the past. It also adds a lightness to each moment, thanks to the liberation of future elements that are yet to arrive down string/stream.

Extra Shot

Merry Holidays! This year-end tour of seven 1MC communities in just four days, was wonderfully wild. As I shared in our Roasted Reflections Discord server, we’ll also be minting the last 5 tokens in the Roasted Reflections NFT Collection, we’re hosting a nationwide holiday party for active 1MC organizers today, and I’m looking forward to crafting the year-end Twitter thread (example) to highlight my second full year of writing every single week! Whoa, cheers to sequencing, eh

By Ben McDougal, ago

Ask For Help

I was raised to “go figure it out”.

This DIY mindset was reinforced through years of education and employment in traditional, corporate environments. If there was a problem that I didn’t have the answer to, I would naturally slide into problem solving mode to independently determine different ways to ensure progress. By and large, this mindset has served me well. It has taught me to be resilient in the face of challenges, even when it’s not the popular path forward. It’s left me with an open, achievement-oriented approach with less limitations, because I am a DIY business woman.

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This caffeinated contribution was written by Laurie Brown. I had the pleasure of collaborating with this operational savant through her work inside the Kauffman Foundation and with 1 Million Cups. Laurie is now helping fellow founders optimize their own business operations, so let me know if you’d like a warm introduction.

Lately, I’ve been re-thinking this approach. Perhaps my DIY mindset should include more asking for help?

Within a recent career transition, I’ve been exploring this new attitude through an experiment. On numerous occasions, I’ve encountered unknowns. In these moments of uncertainty, I’ve resisted my life-long instinct to figure out every answer on my own. Instead, I have started asking myself, who in my network might be able to help me learn?  As this experiment has unfolded, I have three key takeaways.

  1. Asking for help drives results. I can learn from others who have pioneered effective solutions, which saves me time (and pain) along the way.
  2. The collaboration from these exchanges go beyond the problem at hand. Many times it strengthens relationships, the fun of helping each other forms friendships, and mutual professional growth is a welcomed side effect.
  3. By leading the way to ask for help, I serve as a role model to my peers and open the door from them to ask me for help in return.

My DIY ways will continue to serve me well, but I’ve learned that an added dose of curiosity and willingness to listen can add fresh layers of potential. I’ll continue to carry forward my resilient, solution-driven approach, but plan to incorporate more inclusive problem solving and an “AFH attitude” within my engaged network. This will keep problems from staying problems, while also creating a new catalyst for prosperity.

By Ben McDougal, ago