The contents of this blog arise from the ‘conversations’ I’ve had with people; whether in person or through various digital interactions.

I’ve been contemplating adding a level of intention to this, and have decided to embark upon: 100 Conversations

My goal is to reach out to 100 people and start a conversation with the question: At this point of your career, what problems do you want to solve? (this question spins off from a recent post)

My goal within this is: I’d like to support someone in solving what’s important to them… with a conversation.

I imagine that this will take many forms:

• Share knowledge, experience, stories and crazy ideas.
• Contribute to the building of professional networks.
• Expose ourselves to different ways of looking at things.
• Brainstorm, reinforce and develop ideas.

I want to offer each person an interested listener, who is focused on them… and who just might help them find something useful in chasing their goals?

Experimental Method

I think it will be a flexible process, but some forethought is always good:

• The Conversation
  • Arrange to meet with someone for about an hour. Perhaps longer if the provided therapy/learning is mutually beneficial.
  • Prior to the meeting, I’d prepare them with the question of, “At this point of your career, what problems do you want to solve?”
• Who Will I Meet Up With?
  • Part One: The First Twenty!
    • The first twenty conversations would be with friends and associates, with a cross-section of careers, seniorities and people.
  • Part Two: The Second Forty!
    • I think there’s value in not just speaking with those I know, but also meeting new people and hearing from them. During the first twenty interactions, I’d ask each person to recommend two people that they feel would find value in this kind of interaction. This would introduce one degree of separation.
  • Part Three: The Third Forty!
    • Similar to my last selection of forty, this one would be based on asking each person of the 40 to recommend one person. This would introduce two degrees of separation.
• The Follow-Up
  • I think that each conversation will likely lead to a related blog post.
  • Perhaps it leads to a guest blog post by the person I meet with?
  • I’m not certain about the above, so I’ll leave it flexible.

The Results

These are links to the blog posts that have been inspired by these conversations:

#1 The Power of Being Heard

#2 Engineers Are Good With Numbers Until…

#3 Coaching, Mentoring and Metaphor

#4 The Power of “Tell Me More”

#5 Freedom of Time

#6 When No Mentor Exists

#7 tangent: Tools… Not Tales

#7 State Your Assumptions

#8: The Beauty of Being a Hack