Formulas

Recently, I’ve noticed a bit of a trend at work… formulas.

Not the kind that take me back to school (thankfully), but the kind that try to capture a value, a virtue, or a principle in a neat, almost mathematical way.

Simple and memorable is the key.

So naturally, my colleague Annmarie and I thought… let’s give it a go.

In a recent virtual session on accountability, we introduced the idea right at the start and invited people to notice any thoughts, ideas or impressions that came to them during the session.

We then got on with things as per normal, breakouts, discussions, shared experiences. All of the usual good stuff.

As we came towards the end, we returned to the idea and gave everyone a few minutes to create their own “accountability formula.”

And then… we triggered a chat storm.

(If you’ve never seen one, the idea is everyone holds their response… and then everyone hits enter at once. Instant energy and instant insight.)

The chat lit up with some brilliant thinking.

But one response stopped me.

One participant captured his thinking using just a handful of emojis.

No words.

No explanation.

And yet… it said everything.

Accountability = + + +

I caught up with Robert Miller yesterday and asked him to walk me through it again.

It was thoughtful, simple, and spot on.

I was going to explain it here…

But actually, I think it’s far more fun (and perhaps more revealing) to leave it with you.

Sometimes the most powerful ideas are the ones that are simple enough to be shared, understood…and open enough to mean different things to different people.

And when we create space for everyone to contribute at once, we often hear from voices that might otherwise stay quiet.

𝐎𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮: What do you think Robert meant by his formula?