In our most recent Transcribe Live in the Lab, we had a great discussion about the relationship between story telling, organizational culture, and leadership. Stories exist in organizations. They always have and always will. They shape and perpetuate an organization’s culture whether they are accidental or intentional, negative or positive, true or false.

I was recently helping a colleague think through a collaborative workshop design and was introduced to the idea of the six-word memoir. According to SMITH Magazine, Earnest Hemingway was once challenged to write a story in six words. His response was: “For sale: baby shoes, never worn.”  Brilliant.

My colleague Kristen proposed to use a six-word story activity as a way of establishing a current state snapshot as to where an organization is in an initiative.

While perusing LinkedIn Today, we were intrigued by a notion posited by none other than Reid Hoffman, Cofounder and Chairman of LinkedIn. In the executive summary of his presentation “The Start-Up of You”, Hoffman encourages people to adopt a mindset of “permanent beta.” We were both drawn to this concept like moths to a flame, and curiously repelled.

We have a very eclectic mix of people at Collective Next, each with their own passions and strengths. It is this diversity organized by a shared passion for helping people and organizations flourish that enables us to continuously strive to innovate and effectively harness the power of the collective.  One of these individuals is Hamilton Ray, who has a passion for reading and promoting continuous learning. He is always curious to hear about the latest book you are reading and able to suggest a good book if you are not reading one.