Category: Leading

Share a Cup

How do you get people to Connect and share success stories with each other? You set up a giant cup of coffee on the street and ask people to hop in and chat, of course! It’s incredible what you learn, over, and sometimes inside, a cup.


Beginning with Intention

We are thrilled to continue your Experience Lab Inside Out journey! In the inaugural Spark, this freshly curated collection is meant to inspire you to think, encourage you to act, and provoke positive change. Sparks will help you create a comprehensive library of Experience insights. Each Spark is designed to grow your personal library of Experience insights while adding depth to your Experience learning. Try incorporating just one new element in your daily leadership or share with your team and see what happens.

Sparks will be sent to your inbox every Tuesday from InsideOut@TheExpLab.com.


The Power of Intention

January is a time of fresh starts and the perfect time to explore the principle of Intention. Setting an Intention is at the heart of LEADING a cohesive, connected and orchestrated Experience for all.

When you search for “Intention” in the dictionary, you may be surprised by what you find.

At The Experience Lab, we define Intention as the center of what we call character–the values, norms, and priorities that drive actions and choices. To set Intention is to create a clear direction that serves as a decision filter for how you and your organization will move forward amidst a sea of choices.

While the most used Merriam-Webster definition is “a thing intended; an aim or a plan,” an alternate meaning is “the healing process of a wound.” Intention has been part of medicine all along! It refers to the scientific way that our bodies heal; the initial union of the edges of the wound. When we combine the two meanings of Intention, we get to the very fitting and powerful definition we’d like you to use when enjoying this week’s Spark:

The values and priorities that allow a person, a team, a process, or a system to heal.

Let’s visualize the healing of the wound – the coming together of its edges. In our organizations, our edges are often our people and our processes. When we allow ourselves to set an Intention that guides our work each day, we are giving our people and our processes permission to come together. When our people understand the why behind decisions or changes being made, they can accept, adapt, and heal.

So, let’s define our Intentions. Set our north stars. Take aim. Then make it happen. Intention is how we can bring our organizations together.

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Manifesto x 2

Sitting on the steps of Union Square in New York City, brothers Dave and Mike Radparvar decided to write down how they define success. The goal was to create something they could reflect on. The result was The Holstee Manifesto, a viral smash success and the launchpad for their brand, Holstee.

A manifesto is a megaphone for Intention. The Holstee Manifesto speaks an unapologetic truth about what matters most and is a perfect example of how a series of Intentions built a successful business model. There wasn’t a product to sell or a service to provide until the Manifesto was defined, published, and shared with the world. With Holstee, their manifesto has been as compelling as their product — speaking to hearts and minds the world over. The Holstee Manifesto has now been translated into 13 languages (and counting).

Getting inspired by manifestos? Want to understand the journey more? Explore The Unbusy Manifesto, another great example of an Intention-filled manifesto from Jonathan Fields.

If we wrote our own manifesto, what would it say? What matters most? Writing a manifesto is a journey, but why not start? Invite input from team members and see what resonates.

Sing and Dance While the Music Plays

How do we look at our life? Is it a journey? Where are we trying to go? If we focus only on end goals, what happens to our daily lives, what do we miss? This powerful video shares British philosopher and theologist Alan Watt’s thoughts on the journey of intentional living as it relates to music and dance. Perhaps it’s not where we are going, after all, it’s how we get there: the pure enjoyment of playing the music or performing the dance. We love this video and invite you to watch it; because the easiest way to reflect on the Intention you have for your work is to first reflect on your Intention for living. Start now.

What might we notice if we started living more in the right now? Instead of focusing on the long term, write down three actions you might do today that could add to your joy. Then do them.