Dear ,

Hello from Germany!

The Note: Y.4 N.19: 

Let's get after the "where-did-the-need-for-that-come-from" reason for doing what we do. 

Synapse:

"a region where nerve impulses are transmitted and received, encompassing the axon terminal of a neuron that releases neurotransmitters in response to an impulse, an extremely small gap across which the neurotransmitters travel."

We need machines to do things we can't do. But this means that it is up to us to tell the machines what we can think of that needs to be done. We are the ones who (1) identify the problem(s) that need solutions, (2) make the hardware, and (3) program the software.

Our brain-mind and our heart-mind are busy making connections. I think that a LOT of this is going on under the conscious knowledge of us all. And, it's not easy. To connect takes energy, time, and iteration. These connections, they happen within our hands, our hearts, and our minds. Looking around, I see the physical manifestations of OH so much work that was thought about before.

And connected.

For a while, think about what you're working on. And toward. (1) What have you made? (2) What are you making? (3) And how are you growing and changing as a maker?

Those three questions are at the center of my work regarding the community-growing and connection-building effort of a side project I'll work on over the next five weeks.

As we explore the innovation ecosystem of a particular work group (of a few, scores, or even thousands, working locally or spread both country and world-wide), we wonder:

How might the makers - the people doing the making - close the gaps in connection? 

As I've written before, there are two (2) connections to strengthen before I move to connect with another person.

In as few words as possible, they are: "Know Yourself" and "Clarity of Purpose."

It's that first one that has me thinking overtime. And, all the time. As I push through a couple of projects and spend more time with emerging/growing teams, I realize that the self-reflective awareness I've been chasing is not a nice-to-have. It is required. And, I'll share that idea with a group of senior leaders on Wednesday.

Leaders must raise their S-SA… Self-Situational Awareness.

While I was in Colorado Springs a couple of weeks ago and then in Orlando last week, I sat down with people and asked them about "the game" they were playing. Or, it's probably better to say "games?" Many times, people talked in circles, avoiding what they were REALLY thinking, REALLY worried about, REALLY wondering. I continued to bring the conversation back to #connection whenever I could.

When a friend lets me, I start with some of these questions, and I see where the convo goes:

Why is that project on your to-do list? That email in your inbox? That event on the calendar? That item on the credit card bill?

I could go on; by now, you get the point. And, it's not the "Why?" that I am interested in; that's the low-level "because." What I want to get after is the "where-did-the-need-for-that-come-from" reason for doing what you do. When we give ourselves that moment to reflect, we might see

When we pause long enough to open our Leader Books and write:

• the moments,
• the decisions,
• the events,
• and - of course - the people...

...we (gain) insight into what we bring to the fight.

The Community:

"a place where ideas are shared and felt, beginning at ending at the learning zone of two or more people, offering us the chance to be, do, and have something we've never been, done, or had before."

A machine we design to connect - connect us to ourselves, the mission, each other, and the process of getting s%#! done - is only as good as it is close to "the community." Just like in the brain, the synapses must be close enough for information in the energy to pass from one to the other. If the signal is too weak, if there is too much space in between, or if the receiver is weak or somehow compromised, then that connection won't happen. Or, at least won't happen as much.

Remember, the systems (machines, apps, processors) can only do the work that we can't if we know what that work is. By us coming together to "be humans being," we can do what machines can't.

That's powerful.

Good night, and much love from Germany!

Dr. JW