Circle of the 9 Muses

Chapter 17

Use this exercise when you want to immerse your team in a world very different from your own so that you can encounter new and innovative ideas for your work.

For this exercise you will need:

• A learning need for your team
• Physical access to a compelling story site
• Time and resources to manage an immersive event

I'm standing in the middle of the campus at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colorado, with the executive team of one of the most successful software innovators in Silicon Valley.

“Over the next two days,” I tell the team, “I want you to make a note of anything you see that you think helps to create a culture of high performance.” Some of the executives are already happily distracted as they raise their camera phones to capture pictures of passing Olympic and Paralympic athletes. “Capture notes of anything that grabs your interest,”I tell them. “It might be a technology you see. It might be a conversation with an athlete. It might be a symbol, a color, or a feeling. It might be the architecture. Anything is fair game. At this point, you don't have to know why it is important. Later, we will explore your observations to tease out something that will be valuable to your work.”

This has become a familiar refrain in the immersive leadership experiences presented with my friends and colleagues at The Conference Board. With my friend and ...