"Away Day"

August 9, 2007
Day 41 – “Away Day”

The NSMC conducts periodic “Away Days” to promote discussion and group consensus in an environment away from the usual distractions of the office. Today, they were kind, and open, enough to include me in the process. I learned so much, about the NSMC, the staff—even about myself!!

The facilitator (Dr. Graham Lister from Cambridge) led the group through a number of exercise and discussions using Jim Collins book, Good to Great: Why Some companies Make the Leap… and Others Don’t. We explored questions like: “what is your bag?”, “what are the big, hairy, audacious goals for NSMC?” and the “hedgehog”—what are we passionate about, what can we do best in the world, what’s our economic engine; what kind of organization with NSMC be in 3-5 years?” We also explored the nature of the “brutal truth”—sort of a “what one thing keeps us up at night?” It was a very stimulating and provocative discussion.

I learned a couple of neat sayings, such as: “Be a clockmaker, not a time teller!” and “Should we dictate the future or listen to our customers?” Plus lots of other things…
I came away from the session grateful for being associated with a group of such passionate, dedicated people and who are undaunted by the magnitude of the challenges facing them in the coming months and years.