Finding the Moose & Making Vision Stick

Why do some ideas stick? 

Over a decade ago we were in a discussion about college attendance rates within our high schools. During the ongoing conversation we found that while nearly 40% of the prior year graduates were college going students, less than 1% attended college outside of the state of Kentucky. In fact, there was one student during the prior year that attended college outside of the state. I shared this data with one of our coaches and community leaders at that time. Their response was memorable...

On Finding the Moose

Coach: "What's the first step to killing a moose?" (slight smirk on face)

Me: "I'm not sure" (raised eyebrows look)

Coach: "You gotta find it. And, it ain't here." (looks down with lowered glasses)

Me: Yeah, makes sense. (big eyeballs)

Why did this witty adage stick with me over the years?

Simplicity - It was simple for me to remember. 

Storyline - What else could the moose represent? It allowed for immediate connections to values we were pursuing, i.e. innovation and growth.

Senses - It conjured emotion and allowed for easy connections to my life. 

Surprise - It caught me off guard. It was both dark and light. 

What does this have to do with Visioning? 

In many ways the "Find the Moose" principle and making vision "sticky" are closely related. 

1. We have to get out of our comfort zone with language and ideas and the status quo. 

2. We have to have fun, provoke, and be playful within visioning. 

3. We have to create storylines and neural pathways to get places where we haven't quite been yet. 

4. We have to keep hunting until we find something that sticks. 

Made to Stick

In Made to Stick  Dan & Chip Heath (the Heath brothers are Loonshot thinkers) established essential principles for stickiness. We have adapted those here aligning to our Energize the World principle Words Make Worlds. Here are four of the adapted principles. 

Previous Discussions 

1. What the Eyes Cannot See.. - Introduction to visioning including focus on purpose, principles, priorities, process, & performance clarity. 

2. Visioneering & Exponential Action - The positive relationship between increased clarity and increased motivation.

3. Loonshots & Seeking Clarity Together - Aligning priorities and action together! 

Thank you for your leadership! Excited to see you continue to build vision with your teams!