April, 2010

Welcome to our April newsletter. Spring is here and it was a mild winter in Maine. The buds on the trees are blooming early and flowers are making colorful appearances. Businesses seem to be renewing their energy and blooming with new ideas and possibilities. We hope you are looking for new ideas possibilities for your organization.

In this issue:

Inspiration and Creativity
Innovation
Services

Inspiration and Creativity

As a Board member for Good Shepherd Food Bank, operating in the state of Maine, I chaired a year long planning process to hold a summit to face the challenge of feeding people who are food insecure or who are at risk of being food insecure. In Maine, the numbers are staggering and the food bank through its agencies and services feeds 36,000 people a week.

The summit brought amazing energy which resulted in creativity and the participants being inspired to try new and different things. The room held the voices from local farmers, business leaders, municipal leaders, non-profit leaders and educators. Some people entered the room with optimism and others entered with skepticism. Some entered with curiosity and others came with their own agendas. By the end of the day, though, people came together inspired by a need to feed people. This inspiration moved the participants to be creative and to generate ideas to meet the need.

During the course of the day, I observed people's guards being let down. Territorial issues were set aside and there was a real effort to work together. Ideas that emerged were from the most simplistic to the grandiose. Yet, all seemed within reach.

Over the years, I have facilitated or participated in events similar to this one. What amazes me, is when people are inspired by a real need the answers come. What dismays me, is when people go away and go back to the status quo and lose what they came together for in the first place. I hope that for the sake of the people who are food insecure in the richest country in the world that this won't be the case in Maine. I hope the will go well beyond the one day of creativity.

Innovation

With markets shifting and revenues lagging, companies will need to innovate to grow and thrive. Potential Released is developing programs to create "idea labs" within companies to foster creative thinking, develop viable big ideas into financial projections, and implement proof-of-concept tests to validate market potential for transformative ideas. We are excited about our model and look forward to presenting more information here later this spring.

Services

Potential Released can assist you with management and human resource services. We specialize in large change efforts, strategic planning, executive coaching and leadership development and recruiting.