📝 A Note from Ed Morrison: Jumping the S-Curve

Over the last few months, I’ve been thinking a lot about how we move from one phase of growth to another. If you’re familiar with the S-curve, you know the pattern—slow start, rapid acceleration, plateau. It’s a useful model for understanding not just technologies or markets, but also our own organizations and communities. Right now,…

Building Our Right Questions Muscles

The shortest distance between the status quo and a future distinct from the past is working from the right questions at the right time. One of the surest ways to get or stay stuck in a status quo is to work from the wrong questions or from the right questions at the wrong time. Right…

Strategic Doing: Overcoming Analysis Paralysis

We’ve all been there—stuck in endless brainstorming sessions, debating possibilities, and never quite reaching a decision. Ideas abound but progress stalls. This “analysis paralysis” can cripple even the most well-intentioned teams. But there’s a way to break free and propel forward: Strategic Doing. The Trap of Analysis Paralysis Analysis paralysis occurs when overthinking and excessive…

Embracing Equity of Voice in Complex Thinking Part II, Using Humor and a Bit of Sesame Street

The National Science Foundation’s research on the relevance of Equity of Voice in collaboration has yielded intriguing insights. Their findings display the fundamental role this concept plays in shaping the success of collaboration.In collaborative events like Strategic Doing, research suggests that speaking time should ideally be distributed relatively equally among all participants, with a significant…

? Revolutionizing Mobility to Support Aging in Place. The Challenge:

How might communities craft a future where transportation innovatively supports successful aging in place for its older adults. Where the tenets of active aging and Age-Friendly Communities are fully deployed through partnerships between government, civil, and business systems. ? Challenge Statement: In the dynamic landscape of urban and rural living, the imperative is to ideate…

The Power of Teams

Jane RoganFounder and Chief Bottle Washer at ConnectStrategic Doing Fellow I spent Thursday last week on a Habit for Humanity Women’s Build. It was a fantastic experience on a beautiful almost fall day in Indiana, surrounded by like-minded women volunteers all working together on a bustling job site where two houses are being completed at…

Appreciative Inquiry: How Framing Questions Generate Momentum

Using a framing question to guide our work is a cornerstone of the Strategic Doing discipline. The transformation of hearts and minds that comes from the easy (and yet not simple) process of flipping the script on problem ideation can lead to renewed enthusiasm and momentum. When we set out to seek solutions, we often…

Building collaboration in disaster recovery efforts

Building collaboration in the aftermath of a natural disaster is challenging (an understatement if there ever was one). In the January Third Thursday session, Certified SD Workshop Leader Rob O’Brian and Montanan Steve Harvey shared about their use of Strategic Doing to accelerate recovery from the devastating floods in in the state in June last year. The…