Our 10-Year Clock: March 2023 Integrity Body (Board) Discussion

Creating the Future's Integrity Body (Board) Meeting:
Monday, March 13, 2023
10am-12pm Pacific time / 1pm-3pm Eastern time / 5pm-7pm UK time

Topic:
The Meaning of Our 10-Year Clock

Watch the meeting LIVE at this post. Just scroll to the very bottom of the page.
Details about how to participate are below.

What does our 10-Year Clock mean for how we operate?

Creating the Future’s Integrity Board will meet this month to discuss perhaps the most important conversation a social change organization could have.

We know from our engagement efforts last year that our community finds great value in the work we do. So let’s start by saying that that feels incredible, to know that what we are doing is making a real difference.

Given that Creating the Future has always had a 10-year clock for our mission, though, what does that mean for how we approach the goals you all articulated?

We have always said that the clock didn’t mean we would necessarily sunset after 10 years; it simply meant that at that point, we would re-assess. Does it make sense to continue? And if so, to what end?

Revisiting our 10-year clock
Our 10-year stop date is December 31, 2026. That is less than 4 years from now.

As we take slow time to consider next steps for implementing all that you – our community – told us you want our next steps to make possible for you, the reality of that 3.8 years feels very present.

And it leads to a huge question:

At the end of 2026, we may decide there is still work to be done. Or we may pat ourselves on the back with a hearty "mission accomplished," knowing we have done all we can do. 

The bottom line is the acknowledgement at the heart of Catalytic Thinking: Our thoughts -  where we aim our work between now and 2026 - will define the actions that create our results. Rooted in The Pollyanna Principles, we know that “We accomplish what we hold ourselves accountable for.”

If we are thinking our work will just keep going forever, that will influence all our decisions and actions between now and then. On the other hand, if we are thinking we have a finite time frame for getting things done, that may mean very different actions!

In what ways could that choice affect how we operate?
The day-to-day decisions we make?
The way we approach every aspect of our work?

Those issues are all part of the experiment of having a 10-year horizon for our work.

If these questions strike a chord with you – perhaps you are curious about having that conversation about your own work - you can practice by joining us for this conversation on March 13^th. Of course, we will be applying Catalytic Thinking to explore these issues, starting with this one:

What might each approach make possible for you, the people who benefit from our work?

We look forward to your being part of this critical conversation, as we continue to create the future of Creating the Future!

How to Prepare
First, let us know if you plan to attend by sending a note at this link. 

Second, if you are not familiar with Catalytic Thinking or the Integrity functions of our board, the following will be helpful:

For those who think visually, this PDF graphic of the Catalytic Thinking Framework will give you an understanding of the flow of the conversation. For those who work best with text, you can follow along with the questions that guide Catalytic Thinking at this link. We recommend having these pieces available during the meeting, to spark your thinking during the discussion.

To get a sense of the context of our Integrity Board, this post introduces our thinking about that.

3 Ways to participate
If you have never been part of Creating the Future's work, all our strategy and board meetings are open and participatory, for anyone who wants to be part of the discussion. You can see more about that at this link.

Where we meet:

The board meeting will take place right here at this post. If the video does not appear precisely on time, please be patient – we are probably just running a few minutes late.

There are 3 ways you can participate in our meetings.

• If you are already familiar with and committed to Creating the Future’s work, and you would like to be actively involved in the meeting discussion side-by-side at our online “meeting table,” let us know, and we will send you an invitation to join us online. Read more here about what it means to participate in that way. (Please note that these seats are limited, to ensure everyone's voice can be heard. If you are not able to be in the room with us, no worries - there are still two other ways to  share your insights with us!)

• If you want to participate but are unable to be in the meeting itself (perhaps you’re at work, or maybe at home with kids running around, etc.), watch the live-stream in real time and tweet your questions and ideas to us via the hashtag #CreatingTheFuture. We read those tweets aloud during the meeting, just as if you were there. This is a great first step for those who are not as familiar with our work, but want to get more involved.

(Please note: We will only see your tweets if you use the #CreatingTheFuture hashtag. In addition, during the meeting, we will not look at blog comments here at this post. While we will check those comments later, during the meeting we will only be following the #CreatingTheFuture hashtag in the Twitter stream.)

• Lastly, if you want to simply watch, or you want to think about what you’re hearing and respond later – or if you will be watching the recording after the meeting happens – please add your thoughts into the comments here at this post. We will include that thinking into the mix of things.

We look forward to your being part of the discussion!

* All Creating the Future's board meetings are open for anyone to participate, or to watch afterwards. To learn more about the thinking behind this openness - and our experiences with being open - click here.

Logistics: The meeting will happen right here at this post. Details are below.

Watch the meeting HERE on Monday
Note: if the meeting does not start on time please be patient as we may be running a few minutes late.

or, After the meeting - LISTEN TO THE MEETING HERE

or Download the MP3
(To download to your hard drive, right-click {or click and hold on a Mac} on the link above and select "Save Target As".. or "Save Link as"... depending on your browser)