We can't solve today's and tomorrow's problems with yesterday's thinking says Dan Pink. Most of us only know one way to address our challenges. Our problem solving skills, our communication strategies and our capacity to bend our ideas as we bridge gaps have not evolved fast enough. We think there is only a right and wrong way to do something. We've been taught that the one who pulls and pushes the hardest wins. We believe in black and white answers although life is full of contextual … [Read more...]
Conferences During Hinge Times
We are living in a world of hinge time. Our conferences are planned to educate attendees for an era that no longer exists. The challenges our attendees face are vastly different from the ones of the past. Most of our conference attendees were educated on how to be right. We focus on individual and collective attention on deficits—cognitive, emotional, financial and industry-related says says author Dawna Markova. Rarely have we been taught how to collaborate effectively with people across … [Read more...]
What Is Your Conference ROM?
You’ve probably heard of ROI-return on investment. You may have heard of ROE-return on equity (not return on event). Or you may have heard of ROA-return on assets. Successful businesses depend upon ROI, ROE and ROA. So have you heard of ROM-return on mission? It’s critical to moving the mission of your organization forward. So what is your conference's return on mission? Defining ROM Nonprofit technology consultant Andrew Urban says Return On Mission (ROM) is the ability to look beyond … [Read more...]
Is Your Conference Fostering Conscious Cognitive Misers?
Are you creating intellectually lazy conference participants? Your conference programming may harbor bias toward minimizing cognitive efforts. In other words, your conference sessions and speakers may actual curtail participants’ thinking. Your conference could be creating happy fools. These happy fools blindly respond to their own problems by erroneously using your conference takeaways as accurate solutions. They avoid thinking, reflecting, and adapting those takeaways. Then when your … [Read more...]