dream big: imaginary board of directors

Wednesday, August 24, 2005

imaginary board of directors

i was reading jodee bock's blog - you already know this stuff and was turned on to what i think is a great idea - creating your own imaginary board of directors. jodee borrowed the idea from the idea sandbox blog and they borrowed it from michael michalko's thinkertoys. gotta love how good information gets around!

here's how they explained the idea over at idea sandbox:

This board may consist of any person you admire most, living or dead. The instructions Michael Michalko offers in Thinkertoys to form and use this board are as follows:

-Select three to five movers and shakers, living or dead, whom you admire most.
-Get photographs of your Board and pin them up to constantly remind you of the talent at your disposal.
-Research your heroes. Read everything about your heroes that you can get your hands on.
-Take notes on your favorite passages. Pay particular attention to the creative techniques they employed to solve problems.
-When you have a challenge, consult the members of your board and imagine how they would solve it.

i absolutely love this idea. it reminds us that we get to rely on those who have gone before us and it helps us remember that we get to have a team.

i'd encourage you to take it a step further than michalko suggests and if your board members are living get in touch with them. why not? write to them and tell them why you admire them, tell them a little about yourself, and how they have had an impact on you. anyone would love to get a letter or email like that. so go for it! you never know you just might find yourself making a connection that pushes your board from imaginary to real.

i haven't had a chance to think through who all of my board members would be, but i've included a list of the few i am certain of.

here's my initial list:
ani difranco - because she's passionately herself, amazingly brilliant and gutsy as hell.
johann wolfgang von goethe - because he was a brilliant thinker who believed fully in the power of intention and the responsibility we have to make the world the way we believe it should be.
barbara kingsolver - a woman who tells both the most beautiful and the most politically compelling stories that i have ever read. and damn does she have some integrity.
paul wellstone - a fierce defender of the rights of all people, a true politician in all of the best ways, and a fellow lover of minnesota.

i'd love to hear who you want to sit on your board, feel free to post your list here!

dream big,
-kirsten

# posted by kirsten johnson @ 5:47 AM

Comments:

FYI. I believe this idea originally appeared in Napoleon Hill's Think and Grow Rich. This, of course, does not make it any less of a good idea. In fact, I liked the idea so much I created my own imaginery board of directors. It includes: Tom Peters, Stephen Covey, Andrew Carnegie, Gordon MacKenzie, Jim Collins, Margaret Wheatley, Bill Gates, and my mom. Jesus was on my board, but he dominated every dialogue. Now, my mother seems to be driving most of the conversation.

# posted by