Month: March 2015

#1023 creativity

March 21, 2015by leadership dots by dr. beth triplettLeave a comment

There are those that love camping and those who think “roughing it” is sleeping in the Motel 6 instead of a Westin. But the smart folks in Forest City, Iowa have come up with a whole new category of housing: Glamping.

Glamping is glamorous camping — an ingenious way to multiply the housing options in the tiny town and accommodate visitors during the Tree Town Music Festival. You can reserve “furnished” tents, all set up for you, that include duvets, mini-fridges, foot baths, WiFi, outlets, smoke detectors, decorative pillows and beds with memory foam mattresses. You live in “Glamping Village” with all the social amenities of a hotel. It is brilliant.

I can picture the meeting where this idea evolved: where could we house double our population for two nights? People could camp on lawns, but they don’t want to haul all that stuff to a music festival. Well, what if we provided it for them….

Glamping is not cheap ($975 for a queen tent for the weekend), but for the novelty, convenience and camaraderie it provides, I suspect it will be worth it for many people.

How can you emulate Forest City’s glamping and create something totally new to solve a problem your organization has? Think outside the tent and be crazy creative!

— beth triplett
leadershipdots.blogspot.com

@leadershipdots
leadershipdots@gmail.com

See: http://treetownfestival.com/glamping/

Thanks to Megan for sharing!

#1022 pilgrimage

March 20, 2015by leadership dots by dr. beth triplettLeave a comment

Earlier this week, I attended a lecture by a faculty member who told stories about the two pilgrimages he took to reflect on his life and discover his faith more deeply. “Most people are not intentional about discovering our vision,” he said. I have been pondering his thoughts for days.

He is right. Many people “fall into” a career or a job, rather than intentionally seeking out the vocational path that they are traveling. We leap from one transition to the next — high school to college to job to family to retirement — without taking substantial time to reflect on the journey itself or which route to take.

Dean said that on a pilgrimage, “paying attention to where we are at the time is just as important as the end of the journey.” I think that concept is often lost on people; we focus so much on graduating that we don’t savor the time in school or we worry about getting the promotion rather than relishing the steps along the way.

Whether through a formal multi-week, multi-month or multi-mile sojourn like Dean experienced or through a mini-escape of your own, I think we would all be well-served to find a place to “disarm” ourselves for a period. This can be through immersion, fasting, journaling, wandering, reflection, asking good questions, being alone in nature, prayer, yoga or just being silent.

Take steps and seek to find, as David Whyte writes in House of Belonging, a “small, bright, indescribable wedge of freedom” where your true self may lie.

— beth triplett
leadershipdots.blogspot.com

@leadershipdots
leadershipdots@gmail.com

Source: Searching Faith: Catching Fire by Dean Manternach, Mackin-Mailander Lecture Series, March 17, 2015.

#1021 desperate

March 19, 2015by leadership dots by dr. beth triplettLeave a comment

A few decades ago, my sister and I plopped our lily-white bodies on a Florida beach — without sunscreen — for several hours. We were at the end of our vacation, and felt like we did not get enough color.

By the time we left, we would have paid $100 for a bottle of aloe to soothe the ruby-red that was undoubtedly one step away from sun poisoning. Twenty years later, the mere mention of Ron Jon Surf Shop evokes memories of our desperation, and willingness to eagerly pay the inflated price for their sunburn relief.

I thought of this recently when a friend had an emergency root canal. Same idea (only not brought on by her own doing) — but she, too, willingly paid the hefty fee for immediate remedy to her pain.

The value you place on something is determined in great measure to your need of it. Water at a ballpark or Disney World is inflated from what you would pay at the quick mart. Gas along a tollway costs more than at stations on a crowded intersection. Food at an airport is a bargain if you are starving.

Think about what your organization offers and the availability of it to others. Is there something where you can alter the timing or convenience of your delivery to charge a premium price? Can you make your services available at “off-hours” and avoid direct competition? Or what about finding a way to give people what they need, precisely when they need it, so they are willing to do/pay whatever it takes to receive your service?

You don’t have to be an emergency room, but maybe you can use that as a metaphor for how to structure a sub-set of your services.

— beth triplett
leadershipdots.blogspot.com

@leadershipdots
leadershipdots@gmail.com

#1020 solar

March 18, 2015by leadership dots by dr. beth triplettLeave a comment

Recently someone asked me my opinion on whether or not I thought a plot of solar panels would be ugly. He described how these panels would be located along a hillside at the end of a subdivision and would generate the energy to power city facilities.

My reply was that he was asking the wrong question.

If we judged all of our necessary infrastructure on aesthetics, we would not have the equipment to function as we do. If someone asked: “Do you think power poles or water towers are ugly?” the answer would unequivocally be “yes.” But they are essential, so we have them, and for the most part, they blend into the background and we don’t even notice them.

The same could be said for fire hydrants, electric boxes, dumpsters, sewer drains, telephone lines and more. The question isn’t about beauty; it is about functionality and efficiency. If solar is the best way to power the buildings, then the panels should be installed. “Ugly” will be forgotten soon enough and the panels will become invisible to the conscious eye.

How you frame your question will determine the answer you receive. As we learned from yesterday’s blog, ask the right question to receive a more powerful answer.

— beth triplett
leadershipdots.blogspot.com

@leadershipdots
leadershipdots@gmail.com

#1019 provocation

March 17, 2015by leadership dots by dr. beth triplettLeave a comment

The creative agency called “Box of Crayons” offers a daily provocation to stimulate your thinking every morning. One of their latest was a video of people answering this question:
“What is the most powerful question you know?”

It is a fascinating question, and I was intrigued with the host of answers that were shared. Examples included:
> How do you want to be? (the response is never tired, frustrated, distracted, etc.)

> What if failure is not a deal breaker?

> What has to be true for success to happen?

> How can I help (a “learning and serving” question)

> What’s at the heart of this?

> What is calling you that you need to embrace and do today even though it may feel overwhelming?

Box of Crayons has a whole video series of people answering this question and explaining why they chose it. (They are worth a listen at http://www.boxofcrayons.biz/category/best-question/)

I think if they asked me, my most powerful question is “what isn’t?” People often become focused on what is that they overlook what is not being said/done/thought about.

What is your One Best Question? Maybe it will provide the answer you need to be successful today.

— beth triplett
leadershipdots.blogspot.com

@leadershipdots
leadershipdots@gmail.com

#1018 listen

March 16, 2015by leadership dots by dr. beth triplettLeave a comment

I like to listen to non-fiction audio books in my car as I travel back and forth to work. My latest selection was The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey. This is an oldie but goodie, and may have been my first self-help read when it came out in 1990.

One of the points Covey makes really resonated with me this time around. He said: “the biggest communication problem is that we do not listen to understand, but we listen to reply.”*

How often is that the case for you? I know there are times for me when I am formulating my response rather than truly listening to what is being said. Or I can hear the words, but not fully understand what the speaker is trying to communicate.

Covey’s comment has raised consciousness with me to elevate my listening. I hope you, too, will be more intentional in trying to understand the message before automatically trying to reply to it.

— beth triplett
leadershipdots.blogspot.com

@leadershipdots
leadershipdots@gmail.com

*I may have the exact quote slightly off since I wisely did not take notes while driving!

#1017 vibrancy

March 15, 2015October 5, 2016by leadership dots by dr. beth triplettLeave a comment

If you walked into most appliance stores today, you’d find the refrigerators, washers and stoves primarily in three colors: white, black and chrome. Avocado and harvest gold had their day, but mostly appliances have remained in the neutral palette.

Not anymore!

Designer kitchens have taken on a life of their own and they feature color-a-plenty. BlueStar cooking out of New York offers 750 (!!) color and finish selections for appliances. These aren’t your grandmother’s refrigerators!

Think of the possibilities when being able to customize your kitchen with almost any color you can imagine. I wrote yesterday about the growing importance of design in packaging; think of the opportunities in home decor. More than ever, people will want experts to help them make informed choices and to narrow down the combination of options.

What impact does the color explosion have on you? If you’re like Henry Ford and only offer your product in black, you may be left behind by consumers who want more vibrancy in their choice. Think about ways you can add options, preferably in colors that pop.

— beth triplett
leadershipdots.blogspot.com

@leadershipdots
leadershipdots@gmail.com

Source: A purple stove? by Elaine Markoutsas for the Chicago Tribune in the Telegraph Herald, March 1, 2015, p. 1E

Stove picture from bluestarcooking.com — in Radiant Orchid, Pantone 2014 Color of the Year

#1016 design

March 14, 2015by leadership dots by dr. beth triplettLeave a comment

I went to a wine superstore when I was in Minneapolis and it was all but overwhelming. There were aisles of each type of wine, making it almost impossible to make a rational choice. Even if you were “into” wine, it would be hard to know about all of the options in a full aisle of Merlot.

So how did my sister make her buying decisions:
> Some were repeat choices that had served her well in the past
> One she bought because the bottle was square and stood out
> Others were purchased because the label was appealing and “sounded good”
> And other became the default because they fit into a desired price range — not too expensive, but not too cheap either

I think about the hundreds of other decisions that we make that have emotional or unscientific basis for the choice. It highlights for me the growing importance of design in our world — a way for products or services to stand out among the myriad of choice that we face.

You can spend a lot of time developing a great product, but unless you also devote attention to marketing it, your initial work may be for naught. Don’t just think about offering a great service; spend time planning how you will design the story that goes with it.

— beth triplett
leadershipdots.blogspot.com

@leadershipdots
leadershipdots@gmail.com

#1015 tenacity

March 13, 2015January 27, 2026by leadership dots by dr. beth triplettLeave a comment

I was involved in interviews of candidates running for officer positions on our association’s board of directors. One candidate spoke of the importance of continuity in retaining her position on the board and her desire to utilize her experience to realize new heights.

She quoted a former supervisor who summed it up this way:

The first year in a new position you spend figuring it out.

The second year is spent trying to make things the new norm.

But the third year is where the magic happens.

Think about what you are involved in that requires a multi-year commitment before you can achieve the “magic” stage. Which project requires the most persistence from you? Have you stuck with things long enough to know enough to create something new?

Don’t give up too easily. Magic awaits for those who are tenacious.

#1014 author

March 12, 2015by leadership dots by dr. beth triplettLeave a comment

We often think of life as a book with different chapters, but I think it is actually a series of different books.

Some are comedies, some are mysteries and others are drama. Like a series by the same author, the books have much in common and a similar thread through them, but they all have different themes and scenarios.

We are the authors of our own books. We can write what happens, or, if something happens to us, we still have the ability to write how we respond to it. We have a lot more control over what is written on the page than it may feel like on some days, but we do.

Think about the story you want your life to be about and then proactively set about to write it. You are the author, not the reader, when it comes to your life.

— beth triplett
leadershipdots.blogspot.com

@leadershipdots
leadershipdots@gmail.com