update from June 20

Last Wednesday we spent half our time working with Carol's "big idea" of a Music Garden, inspired by the one in Toronto. This is a huge project in the non-profit realm, and our role in the circle was mostly the generation of ideas and connections, with some time spent identifying Carol's core gift and mission driving this idea.

The second half was devoted to helping Evan work his way toward his sweet spot. He came prepared with his chart well-populated with gifts, passions and purposes, and our role was mainly to notice connections and "intersections". The more I work with this idea, the more I like its simplicity and utility, and I think it is even more powerful when you share it and get help with it from others. We found what looked like at least one strong sweet spot for Evan. I'm confident that, even if an initial finding it turns out not to resonate strongly, one only needs to go back to finding more material (gifts, purposes and passions) to add to your chart and then look for connections until it starts coming together.

One of the important distinctions I've learned in this process is the difference between "gifts" and "core competencies". Simply put, a gift is something that you do well that is quite unique - there's a lot of specificity - such as "crafting environments that take people along for an experience". Core competencies are transferable skills that support us in our endeavours and that we can expect to share with many others. "Written and Spoken Communication", "Finishing What I Start", "Getting Along with Others" and "Organizing Myriad Details" are not gifts. I have moved them off my chart on to my list of core competencies. This helps to simplify the chart and clarify things.