Well, it’s been a while, but I was completely off the grid week before last (last week was catching up) as I went with four buddies into the wilds of Yosemite with our lives on our backs. Tents, stoves, clothes, food, even water filters, about 50 pounds to be totally independent for 7 days.
It’s a time to reflect on what’s important, to get back in tune with nature’s rhythms, and time to talk. One of the most interesting learnings is something that I recall from past trips. One of the guys had a business goal he was trying to achieve, and the quality of the discussion while you’re hiking from a meadow up to a high Sierra pass is truly impressive. We covered many options, alternatives, brought up barriers and opportunities, and helped him refine his thinking.
The trip has always been organized by one guy (this was the 20th anniversary trip, though it was only my fourth year), who invites his board member and holds his board meeting during the hike!
I think that when there’s a passion to get something done, setting the circumstances up to take the time to workshop the idea is one of the best steps you can do. And being out in nature is one of the best stimulators of appropriate mind-sets.
Which is, in some sense, obvious, yet too often we don’t allow brainstorming, working together, and making the environment safe and comfortable enough to allow thoughts to pop up even if they’re bad. We know this is good for innovation, yet we too often create an environment with too much pressure, too much competitiveness. This was one of the topics that came out in the Creating A Learning Culture conference, and is reflected in the book. It’s also part of what Creative Mastery does with their clients.
Make sure you apply an atmosphere and context that matches your goals. And get out in nature, both for the pragmatic boon and the spiritual restorative. Remember, we need wildness on our planet!
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