Desirable Results & Unexpected Outcomes

Does thinking outside the box produce desirable or undesirable results? In thinking about Rosemarie's friend with the GUD job offer, it made me think that sometimes that "box", whether you are inside or out, almost always produces some result - it's just a matter of them being desirable or undesirable. For example, look at the success of thinking outside the box that Apple had with the iPod. The music device broke through the typical media of CDs (or cassette tape) and has become the most popular personal music device on the worldwide market and it's capacity and capability continues to grow. This was clearly a desirable result for Apple.

Then, there are examples of thinking outside the box producing undesirable results or unexpected outcomes. Burger King and their ad team did a strange commercial last year with the King hanging out with some scantily clad women. While they may have been trying to appeal to the "younger generation", their inappropriate ad caused boycotts and many families forced the ad to be removed from local channels. I'm sure they paid an undesirable price and achieved an undesirable result from that campaign.

But those are big companies, right? What about the results we want to achieve in our own lives? One of the best tools for thinking outside of the box about results is called "visioning". It's usually a meditative or facilitated exercise where you imagine a situation in the future. I like to look out to a 3-5 year window and imagine what things look like with a desirable result in place. Then, you work back and begin to write out the steps it would take to produce that result. In addition to the steps, adding details and colorful reality helps to make the result more tangible and real. The visioning exercise, and the associated work-back plans, typically produce a desirable result.

Of course just having a plan does not set it into action. One must begin to communicate it, request help, and in some cases, take bold steps to move it forward. Then, typically there are some unexpected positive outcomes along the way. You may find someone who is in an industry that you are trying to step into. Or, an opening for dialogue in an area that you are interested in. All manner of unexpected outcomes are possible when we begin to communicate the things that are most important to us. Look at the recent news where Jaycee Lee Dugard was finally located - this was an unexpected outcome from a routine missing person plan that was generated out of dialogue with the Berkeley police. I praise God that this young girl has been reunited with her family and can begin to establish her plan for herself and her family.

Questions to ponder: What are your plans for your future, 1 year from now, 3 years from now, or 5 years from now? What are you doing to move these forward to produce a desirable result? What unexpected outcomes have you experienced recently from dialogue and communication with others? What face would change as a result of your vision?