You 2.0

Things begin: The Crash of v 1.999

I’d been bored for a decade and unhappy for a year in my job – as an instructional designer and training consultant for B2B corporations – and didn’t know what to do about it. From the outside, I had “everything”: my own business, flexible work hours, good pay, lived in a nice little house in a nice little town in the country, great community and friends. But inside? I hadn’t enjoyed my work for a very long time.

Finally, a really bad week got me going. I needed a New Me. I needed an updated version of what I wanted to do. I needed to create Laurie 2.0.

I needed a personal Board of Directors.


Selecting the Board

I needed opinions – from friends who knew me well, from colleagues I had known for literally decades, from clients who had seen my work and benefited from what I did best. But how to pick them?
Here were my criteria:

1. STRAIGHTFORWARD:

My first thought was “honest,” but I meant more than that. Of course all my friends are honest. But would they actually say what they thought?

I needed people who would have the gumption and courage to tell me the truth – but still be supportive, productive and generous. I have a lot of friends who, as kind and honest as they are, either can’t give a straight answer to an uncomfortable question (like “What don’t I do well?”), or are TOO strong in expressing their views – and not open to allowing others to build on them.

I needed kindness and honesty: my definition of “straightforward.”


2. CREATIVE:

My Board needed people who already had “out of the box” thinking and doing evident in their own lives. People who didn’t settle for a “status quo” of expectations in their jobs or their lives. People who were actively managing their professional and/or personal lives. People who could take an idea – theirs or someone else’s – and run with it.


3. FEARLESS (APPARENTLY):

First I thought “optimistic,” but the people I needed weren’t afraid of change, or at any rate, acted in the face of it.
Change is hard and disconcerting and unpredictable, but it’s also exciting, creative, sometimes mind-blowing, and certainly necessary.

All of my Board members had faced and handled change, sometimes daily, and weren’t afraid of it.


4. FRIEND:

Everyone has different kinds of friends in their lives: personal friends who share hobbies or common friends, professional colleagues who turn into friends because of common interests or a simple ability to get along, or a good history of working well together.

In my case, I also had clients, who knew something about my private life but whose primary experience of me was through my work.

Since “Laurie 2.0” was going to be a wholesale change in the way I live my life, I needed people from all three of these areas to contribute their ideas. In short, I called in some chits.
• Ah yes, the clients: I selected clients very carefully, since they were definitely in the training business with me, and I didn’t want to let it out that I was aiming out of the arena. So for that group, I added “discrete,” knowing that they would not spread the word among other clients and associates that Laurie was “out of the business” until I actually was, in fact, changing course.


5. LAUGH LOVERS:

Laughter is a big part of me: my life, my being, and my ability to cope with stress. So all of my Board members had to be able to laugh – at silly ideas, at jokes, at how strange life is to lead us to where we are now living, and even at the meaning of life. Deep laughers. Fun laughers. Kind laughers. People who liked my big ol’ loud, from-the-belly laugh that is (apparently) my trademark and that helps people know I’m in the movies, restaurant, party or theater.

Should you get a bunch o’ laughers for you? Not necessarily. But look at how you like to “be” with people: Seriously? Quietly? Slowly? Rat-ta-tat fast? Ask yourself: If my Board reflected my favorite way of being, what would it be? Then go with that.


The Big Step

With these definitions in mind, I mentally ran through the people I thought would be interested. I called ‘em up and outright asked them if they would take an hour to talk about the new me: “Laurie 2.0,” as my Board Member/friend Paul Ryder said it.
All agreed, and, to my surprise, all were excited. We scheduled it for a few weeks out. Short enough to put on a little pressure, and enough time to think.

Ooops: now I was committed: time to act.


AFTERTHOUGHT: How Many Is Too Many? Or Too Few?

Too many people: comments can be stifled because people don’t want to fight for airtime.

Too few: ideas stall because everyone has to work to keep the conversation going.

Just right: you, plus 4-5 friends per conversation. If they all know (or know of) each other, excellent.
How many meetings you hold is up to you. I did two group ones, and a few private conversations. I’d say that’s the minimum for me.

You know best, but beware getting too many conversations going – more can create confusion after a while. Plus it puts off the Big Enchilada: actually deciding to make a move towards change. Don’t cheat!


FOR YOU

If you want an easy organizer to help you select your Board of Directors for your transition to the new you, give me an "e": LazyL@wyoming.com