This video was shot at a recent sold out event. The local news did a short feature on it. Enjoy.

Mount

A quick note to say congratulations to all who have made it to the summit of Mount Everest on this first summit push. So far reports have about 25 on top with many more making their way up slowly.

I know the dedication, focus and drive it takes to accomplish this feat and I am very happy for them all and wish them a safe descent.

Mount Everest is such an amazing laboratory and training ground for leaders and teams. The level at which you must communicate, lead, problem solve, build trust, and deal with change and risk is phenomenal. If you are looking for it you can see great examples of amazing leadership and teamwork and shocking displays of ineffective leadership and total lack of team. If you look closer you can easily see the factors that create success and failure.

Although climbing Mount Everest has become a big business for some and more and more people go every year don’t let anyone tell you it is easy and a walk in the park. Everyone who stands on top has earned it and risked their lives doing so. Yes, some are more experienced than others, and some have closer supervision from guides, but everyone who gets to the top does so under their own power. Nobody can be carried to the top.

During these challenging economic times many companies are cancelling meetings because of the cost associated with these meetings or the ‘optics’ of meeting. I would like to argue that having meetings is more important than ever. Snowden and Kirkpatrick wrote in Harvard Business Review November 2007 that “conditions of complexity call for high levels of human interaction in organizations – and meetings play a key role in helping leaders accomplish goals. Certainly these are some of the most complex times in history. Meetings are one for the most important tools leaders have for tapping into their intellectual capital and for building the social capital so necessary to weathering tough times”.

The question is not really weather to have meetings or not, but rather how to make sure your meetings have value. We recently facilitated a 4 day team meeting with a focus on team development and strategic planning. With a carefully crafted design and expert facilitation you can accomplish so much at a meeting that the time is invaluable. One participant commented “While I have a moment of your time, I just wanted to re-thank you for the retreat. The positive changes in our team are so evident, it kind of boggles the mind actually. You will be happy to know, we are using many of the tools you gave us and trying to use the others”. This meeting was of huge value to this company and their CEO said the only thing he regretted is that he did not dedicate more time to the meeting.

When you are planning your next meeting, consider the following:
1. What are the objectives and expected outcomes
2. Who needs to attend
3. How much time is required
4. Place great attention to the session design to make sure it is engaging and educational
5. Make sure the meeting has a component of networking, socializing and team building
6. This could also be a great time to do some ‘tune-up’ training
7. Make sure everyone is walking away with new information and an action plan
8. Think about how you will measure the impact of this meeting

If you consider these things, you may find your next meeting does have greater value and you will get less resistance for meetings in the future.

Innovation

I have a friend Jim Carroll. He is a Futurist, Innovation Expert, and Keynote Speaker. He recently wrote an article for his blog at www.jimcarroll.com entitled “Innovation Oxygen”. He was thinking about my summit push to the top of Everest and thought that the metaphor applied to today’s challenging economy. He writes “It is no secret that we are in an economy that has become far more hurried, complex and uncertain. Things are changing at a furious pace out there - from the products we are selling, to the markets we are selling to, to the attitudes of the customers that we are dealing with. Not to mention challenges with business models, marketing, branding, customer service, new forms of competition -- and well, just about everything else!
Faster is the new fast!
In such an environment, a constant, relentless focus on innovative ideas might be the key to helping deal with rapid change. And through innovation, you may discover new opportunities.
This is the perfect time for every organization to put in place what I call "innovation oxygen." This involves establishing a culture where everyone is actively encouraged to test a new idea”.

In order to be innovative you must think “outside-the-box”, you must come up with new and unique ideas. When working with a sales group recently we spoke about innovation and how to get it. If all you are looking for is a small improvement you can likely just tweak your existing system to meet your goal. If you are looking for a total shift in your culture or to meet stretch goals you may need to bust your old system and develop a completely new one. This will take courage, trust, communication and leadership. It will also require an effective brainstorming session. Use the intellectual power of your team and gather the best ideas. Combine and modify and select the best option that will launch you into the future. Use a little “Innovation Oxygen”.

Here are some simple guidelines to think about when brainstorming:
1. Record all ideas offered
2. Defer judgement...let the ideas flow
3. Encourage wild and crazy ideas
4. Quantity counts...hear from everyone
5. Build on the ideas of others
6. Talk in brief headlines
7. Every person and every idea has equal value
8. Encourage one another
9. Have fun with it!