Marc grew up on a farm, had several big brothers, and was a scrappy kid. My dad was the local pastor, I was the oldest kid in my family, and Marc was the only one I’d ever fought.

—

The year I turned ten I enjoyed a sudden and largely unnoticed growth spurt. I moved quickly from pudgy and short to trim and tall. As most things go at age ten, I didn’t catch onto the change.

—

The year I turned ten I discovered a lesson.

Marc Decker had me in a head-lock, was raining down his little right fist on my back, and shouting “Bible-thumper!!!” mericlessly in my ear. I was on my face, in the dirt.

There in the dirt, ear drums ringing, I finally noticed a change I’d ignored until that moment. It was one of those dream-like moments. I could almost see myself, as though a third person, standing beside Marc, getting ready for that inevitable fight. The boy I saw - the boy I was - was taller, heavier and stronger.

I stood up.

There was no clarion call. I didn’t launch into some blinding combo of punches and kicks. I just got to my feet and stood there with my arch nemisis hanging with his arms around my neck.

Marc grunted, hung there a few moments, kicked his legs several times and then let go. He stepped back and bellowed up at me that I was some ten-year old version of a coward, spun around, and stomped back to his friends.

Marc and I never fought again.

—

In business it’s easy to get caught on my knees. Easy to let weakness define decisions. Easy to stay deeply tuned to the boundaries trumpeted by propects smelling a good deal.

This is especially the case after being employed (vs self-employed) and being subjected to reviews that, when an employee, deserved full attention. All those gaps, ladders, and deficiencies that were so long the focus of every evaluation somehow carry over to this new thing. Like those dreams of missing some university exam, or showing up naked to a presentation - it’s a haunting sort of feeling.

I walk around feeling short, pudgy, and weak.

—

There was an almost indescribable joy in that moment I stood up with Marc struggling around my neck. When he marched off, his little head bobbing with the vigor of his shouting, I felt like a mountain. That moment awakened in me a quiet voice that’s continued to flicker from then until now.

That voice is so quiet and the world of other voices is so loud, it is almost impossible to hear it sometimes. It’s easily forgotten.

—

I drove home yesterday with a $2,500 check on the seat beside me. That, a retainer, and several more days of signed work mean my next three months of living are already in hand.

Now I know, three month’s mortgage is no grand goal but it means I am out of the dirt. I am taller and stronger than I felt I was.

I can stand up. I can choose what I do next. I can say no. I can say, “Yes, but only to this, and for at least this much.” I can say those things with a confidence and passion someone might hear in the voices of ten-year old boys.

The joy, peace and confidence this brings is a beautiful, beautiful thing.

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He described these various containers of meaning (character, scene, episode, season) as arcs. It’s when these arcs collide that the most interesting stories are told.

—

A few days before I read Merlin’s bit, I chatted with one of the writers supporting Canada’s Prime Minister, Stephen Harper, and his campaign. In describing his role he used phrases like “scripting the campaign” and “tailoring messages”. I was surprised, maybe naively, by the mix of story telling, real-life chess, and Canadian politics.

We talked about articulating the future - using words to create a future that doesn’t exist but in many ways is brought into existence by the words themselves. The words create windows to new views, doors to new directions, and appetites for things voters might never otherwise imagine for themselves but suddenly decide it will define their vote.

—

In both examples the writers project an outcome, target a future end and use words to create it. They sit today and foresee an end four, six, eight years from now. They arc to that end in broad ways and then work back to create the episodes, scenes and characters that enable it.

Can we arc businesses too? What might it mean for today?

—

In my business we are hip-deep in development. In parallel line we are retooling, restructuring, and rebranding. Part of the work includes the help of a brand strategist. He’s helping us align the elements of our position and the statements we make about the company.

His early comment was that our “corporate brand” should look … more corporate. Less like a blog and, though not like IBM, more like IBM. The arc idea made me hesitate. What arc are we on? Is it a blog-looking-arc or one closer to IBM?

What is the character of my company? What does it look like? Suit or jeans?

What scene are we in? Where are we in the room? High-rise or back door alley?

What episode is this? Where are we in the story? Climbing or peaking?

What’s this season about for the company? What gets done here to enable whatever is next? Setting the stage or crushing together old arcs?

And, finally, what’s this series about? Where is the end?

My company is no IBM. I’m pretty sure we’re not even headed in that direction. The end zone is probably more mafia consigliore and less corporate suit. We’re in a season of growth where new character is emerging and the foundational story line is being built. Coming off glitzy and slick wouldn’t own the reality we’re in - it would suggest something we’re not and wouldn’t let us own everything we are.

We’re in the cliché scene where all the cool kids watch with dull curiosity as the new kid wanders into the story. All the unknowns and potential can only be spotted in flickering glances, subtle expressions, and vague gestures. There is too little information to establish story-line character but its obvious that “a character” has arrived.

—

What does “arcing” mean for your tatty old business plan? What does it mean for the VC pitch you’ll make tomorrow? What does it mean for the data you’re gathering to reinforce the story you’re already telling? What might foresight tell you about the story your ought to be a part of?

My gut says two things,

1) There’s nothing new in this idea

(and in spite of that)

2) This concept would enable powerful change across the companies I know.

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Key pieces I found provocative:

- The few nations left intact (China? Russia?) are circling to pick up cheap American assets abandoned as a consequence of deregulation.
- This is not the end of capitalism but it is the end of America’s version of capitalism. “Market economies that resisted American-style deregulation will best weather the storm.”
- “Outside the US, most people have long accepted that the development of new economies that goes with globalisation will undermine America’s central position in the world.”

When I helped represent Canada at the OECD I was always fascinated by the countries at the table. Big bruisers like the U.S. and E.U. would pound away while smaller, more ancient countries quietly watched.

I always left with the same feeling: that these other countries saw things in a timeless way that didn’t translate. It wasn’t for lack of strength or conviction that they sat quiet. I bothered me that I kept recognizing their faint smiles and couldn’t quite place where I’d seen that smile before.

I didn’t place that smile until my oldest son, only three years old, drifted onto a crowded playground for the first time. I watched another father, who’s son was obviously older than mine, track my boy onto the sand. His eyes sparkled in anticipation.

Out on the playground my son promptly made for the mid-sized adventure playground - a wild mess of slides and ladders. Mounting the top platform he bellowed out at the rest of the kids. In a shrill voice he claimed control and demanded obsequience. He was vastly ignored. Bigger kids pushed past and his rising din held the attention of none but the older boy’s father.

It was on that quiet man’s face that I found again the smiles of the other OECD countries. He and they smiled at the transition they knew must come. Together they smiled in anticipation of the new knowing that transition would enable. They smiled at a boy who was visibly edging forward in his effort to become a man.

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New news: We’re now at this full-time. Have been since November 2007. And we are so grateful to say that business has been absolutely incredible.

We hit our annual revenue target about three months in and are working with some terrific companies. We’re focused in three areas 1) sift (due diligence, market intelligence, and foresight), 2) invoke (brilliance-based innovation), and not-well-named-invest (micro-finance and vc).

Relevant posts:

Doula for startups
Experiencing insight
Collective intelligence
Beyond serendipity
Synchronizing greatness

Contact us:
780.669.3607
jeremy(at)sifteverything.com

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“Every revolution was first a thought in one man’s mind, and when the same thought occurs to another man, it is the key to that era.”

What is your revolution? When will you give it to the one who is going to change the world? What do you need before you can give it away?

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“Find out as soon as possible what are the best things in your composition and then shape the rest to fit them. The former will be the midrib and veins of the leaf.

There is always some accident in the best things, whether thoughts or expressions or deeds - the memorable thoughts, the happy expression, the admirable deed are only partly ours. The thought came to us because we were in a fit mood. Also, we were unconscious and did not know that we had said or done a good thing.

We must walk consciously only part way toward our goal and then leap in the dark to our success. What we do best or most perfectly is what we have most thoroughly learned by the longest practice and at length it falls from us without our notice as a leaf from a tree.”

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I ask because people keep suggesting I’m a facilitator. But being a bit of an elitist, the two seem juxtaposed.

But I’ve started to wonder if elitism has been given an unfortunate and unjustified coloring. I also wonder if facilitation has been characterized too much as group hugging when there’s really a lot more on the table.

I picked the comparisons above because they each seem to have some element of facilitation and each also maintains a primary sense of elitism. For example, I think a host can be picky about her company. A coach makes cuts when creating his team. And the artists we all seem to love the most all seem to have a bit of that elitist flair.

It seems to me we’ve all run pell-mell into the arms of the crowd … the broader and more base the group, the better. And I’m wondering what your experience has been across the gradient of elitism. How does the value of the outcome change across each step up the ladder of exclusivity? What is given away and what is kept?

So, I’m hoping you each might weigh in without getting too hung up on the caustic connotation of the words I’ve chosen - that you see beyond them to the sense of my inquiry. What do you think?

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It would be worth while,
once for all,
fairly and cleanly
to tell how we are to be used,

as vendors of Lucifer matches

send directions in the envelope,
both how light may be
readily procured
and no accident happen

to the user.

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What do people invite you to do? I don’t mean parties or jumping off cliffs; I mean those slightly bizarre requests that bleed between professional things and personal things.

I get invited to help people understand themselves. Often the requests sound different but the root is the same. “How do I explain what I’m good at and want to do?” “How do I choose between all these options and make sure things align with where I want to go?” “How do I figure out where I want to go?”

The questions come from people younger than me, older than me, sitting in school, teaching at school, starting careers, and finishing careers. I get this question from people who admire my success and, most startling, people who I’ve sought out because I admire their success.

These questions are beautiful and fragile. Every time I’m asked, I feel like I’ve somehow been tricky - fooled them into thinking I’m more than I am. I’ve become very careful with my language, how I express confidence, and what I volunteer. I worry about abusing this thing I’ve been given. There is something I can’t name that calls out to people, allows them to trust me, and suggests I somehow see things inside of them that they haven’t been bold enough to accept but are desperate to embrace.

So, there’s my thing. What’s yours?

And now what?

If we know what it is, what do we do about it? I could spend the rest of my life working with those people I meet … I could even make some kind of consulting/coaching practice out of it. But should I? Just because people invite me to do it - does than mean I ought to?

It is worthwhile, joyful, gratifying, selfless, and lovely. But it leaves me slightly unfulfilled. I feel … a bit hollow while in the midst of it. What does that suggest?

And strategically, is it the best way … the most whole way to use that gift? It might not be below me to be some counselor for the rest of my life, but is it below that knack for seeing brilliance inside of people?

This is nothing like rolling out a string of credentials. I can walk into any room with my Associate of Arts in International Studies, Bachelor of Arts in Economics, and Masters of Science in Environmental Economics and people know (or think they know) which categories to pop me into - especially if I tag those certificates with experience in consulting, international policy, and venture investment. But I couldn’t generate enough mustard to walk into the same room and explain what I see in each person around the table … or even just say I’ve been invited, all my life, to do that exact thing and they ought to invite me to do the same.

If we would do as only we can do, what do we do now? How does this get started? How do we rein in our options and tailor our path to do more things in that seemingly bizarre category of gifts/knacks?

I’d love it if you’d wade in. Speak up if you have something to add or even another question to ask. I’d like to see comments from Dave Pollard (he’s working his way through), Hugh MacLeod (he seems to have found his feet), and Chris Corrigan (he’s looking from a totally different angle).

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I was lying on my back, slung between two seats in the bottom of the row boat. My self-appointed advisor sat sweating in the bow. His fat white stomach glistened in the heat of the Ukrainian afternoon.

While we drifted along the river, the missionary earnestly jabbered about his work in the country. It was getting uncomfortable.

Eventually, for lack of distraction, I started making internal wagers betting on which two beads of sweat would first jump together on the man’s expansive, sweaty chest. His words droned along, joining the monotonic voice of the city.

Finally and suddenly he stopped talking. Without ceremony he jerked backward, flipping into the river. It was a slick move for such a large man, but it left the boat rocking wildly. I was still scrambling for balance when his happy face popped out of the water.

“What do you want to do?” He squirted water from his mouth in a graceful arc.

“When?” I didn’t know what he was asking about.

“With your life.”

“Oh, I’m thinking of being a nurse.” I’d just finished my first year of university and was leaning toward nursing. I knew there was a shortage of male nurses in Canada.

“Huh.” He grunted as he threw his arms over the side of the boat to hang by his armpits in the water. “Could you be a doctor?”

“I guess …” I was getting good grades and had nearly straight A’s in high-school.

“Do you think there are some people who could, if they tried their hardest and used everything they had and did their very best, only be a nurse?”

“Sure.”

“And you could be a doctor?”

“I think so.”

“So,” he shifted his weight and nearly dumped me in the water, “Why not let them be nurses and you be a doctor.”

That great white, balding, sweaty man changed my life. I didn’t become a doctor, but I switched universities intending to be one. I stopped settling for what I could be and started searching for what the best in me could be. It’s a filter that’s defined every decision I’ve taken since then.

—

Last week I heard something else that feels like it will make waves. A board member was giving our investment company some advice, he invited us to “do only what you only can do.”

A gorgeous invitation.

Is it practical? Is it really an option? Or is the transformation required in order to accept the invitation actually the real point - what gets done is secondary.

Thoughts?

Image posted by obosman.

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