Choosing Your Own Adventure 🏔️

Did you ever read Choose Your Own Adventure books? I loved – and also hated – Choose Your Own Adventure books. The concept was simple – you as the reader are the protagonist, and you get to choose your own adventure (clever name, huh?).

Every few pages, the reader is presented with a choice – typically two or three options of what to do, each of which leads to further pages and further choices, and so on, until they arrive at one of many story endings.

Above: In Choose Your Own Adventure books, you were the hero, and your decisions throughout the pages of the book would dictate the ending. It was exhilarating and terrifying at the same time. 😬

I loved Choose Your Own Adventure books because they put me in the center of the story. I was the star, I had agency, and my choices would determine the outcome. I also hated Choose Your Own Adventure books because they gave me a severe case of FOMO – fear of missing out. What if I made a bad decision? What if the outcome was better or more interesting if I had made a different choice?

I still remember reading the book and reaching each decision point. Decision A would tell me to turn to page 72, and Decision B would say to turn to page 86. I would choose A, but leave my finger on the decision page as I turned ahead to see what had happened, just in case I wanted to go back and make a different choice.

It was exhilarating. And stressful.

Many years later, artist and data visualization specialist Christian Swinehart did an extensive analysis of the books in the series, illustrating them as a series of decision trees. Here’s how the second book in the series, Journey Under the Sea, looks when visualized as a series of decisions:

Above: The second book in the Choose Your Own Adventure series, Journey Under the Sea, visualized as a decision tree (Atlas Obscura). 

The amount of decisions and possible outcomes can be paralyzing.

I wonder if life sometimes feels this way (except for the ability to go back and make different choices, of course).

Do you sometimes wish life were a Choose Your Own Adventure book, where you could make a decision, see how it plays out, and go back and make a different decision if you don’t like the outcome?

Unfortunately, life isn’t a Choose Your Own Adventure book, where you can try out different endings. Life isn’t a game of checkers or chess, where there are a limited number of known moves – in life, there are infinite possibilities.

💡 Takeaway: Unlike a Choose Your Own Adventure book, life is a series of decisions that can’t be remade. But like a Choose Your Own Adventure book, making decisions is the only way to move forward.

Make Decisions

A wise friend once told me, “Make a decision, and make it right.”

Make a decision, and make it right. That released the pressure for me. I could make a decision and, based on what happens, make another decision to either reinforce or adjust the effects of the first decision.

I remember launching Imago Consulting. It was (is) a constant flow of decisions. I described it to a friend like a game of chess where I wish I could see six moves into the future. When I made any decision, I knew it would lead to a certain range of outcomes, which would present new decisions, which would lead to a different range of outcomes.

It’s Choose Your Own Adventure, but without being able to turn back the pages! And that is precisely why it is so important to make decisions.

Make a decision, and make it right. 

Above: Decisions are made in the present. You can’t change the past. The future is full of choices you can’t make yet. Make a decision, and then make it right. (Brand Atlas)

Decisions and Innovation

Indecision can be particularly detrimental to innovation efforts. By definition, innovation is a process of wading through the unknown to establish a new version of the future. It requires making decisions, and lots of them.

The “Imago” in Imago Consulting is a word picture that comes from Latin. It’s a vision of a future that does not yet exist. In Latin, it evokes the image of a caterpillar that will eventually become a butterfly. It’s the last stage of maturity. A metamorphosis. The final shape.

What I do with clients is help them see a vision for a future that does not yet exist. To reach that future, though, many, many decisions need to be made along the way.

Innovation requires making decisions, and indecision leads to stagnation and a lack of innovation.

So, make a decision today.

💡 Takeaway: Decisions are the only reliable way of moving forward. Not all decisions will lead to the outcomes you desire, but indecision leads to stagnation. You will never know unless you make a decision. Make a decision, and then make it right.

Not every decision needs to be risky. Decisions can feel risky, but they are not. Ask yourself - what’s the worst that can happen as a result of this decision? Very few decisions you make should be truly risky, “bet the farm” decisions. Make many smaller decisions instead. Take the next step toward your desired outcome, learn, and adjust.

Jim Collins talks about this concept in his book Great by Choice. He calls it “Fire Bullets, Then Cannonballs”:

First, you fire bullets (low-cost, low-risk, low-distraction experiments) to figure out what will work—calibrating your line of sight by taking small shots. Then, once you have empirical validation, you fire a cannonball (concentrating resources into a big bet) on the calibrated line of sight.

The more smaller decisions you make today, the fewer larger, riskier decisions you’ll have to make tomorrow. Likewise, if you don’t make decisions today, you may be forced into fewer, bigger decisions where the stakes are potentially devastating.

Decisions when We Can’t See the Entire Journey

I’ll leave you with a quote that I’ve found helpful in my life and leadership, and then I’d like to give you an opportunity to practice making decisions with a simple Choose Your Own Adventure.

First, the quote:

“Writing, like life, is like driving at night with the headlights on. You can only see a few feet in front of you… but you can make the whole journey that way.”

- Ann Lamott, Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life

The word picture of driving through a dense fog or at night has been helpful to me. We can never see the full path before us, but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t make that first turn.

Now, let’s put your newly inspired decision-making resolve into practice.

Choose Your Own Adventure: Purpose & Profit Podcast

I co-host the Purpose & Profit Podcast, a show about the surprising ideas at the intersection of causes and brands. We’ve recently released three new episodes for Season Three.

Your adventure today is to consider the three episodes, decide on one, and give it a listen. Let’s get you in the habit of making decisions!

From High Fashion to Homelessness: A Journey of Purpose

We interview Richard Newcomb, a former senior executive in the fashion industry turned homeless advocate, about the transformative power of innovation, risk-taking, and adaptability in for-profit and nonprofit organizations.

If you decide to go on a journey of purpose from fashion to homelessness, click here to listen. 

3 Insights from 470 Conversations with Nonprofit Leaders

Lessons from more than 470 conversations with nonprofit leaders by We Are For Good founders Jon McCory and Becky Endicott. We discuss the power of philanthropy and equipping this generation of nonprofit leaders, social impact players, and passionate Do-Gooders.

If you decide to delve into the “Impact Uprising” and engage the power of philanthropy and social good, click here to listen.

Disney and the Intersection of Creativity and Business

Theron Skees spent 23 years as a Disney Imagineer and senior creative executive, helping to imagine and implement innovation in Orlando, Florida, Hong Kong, Paris, and the seas. We discuss the need for more creativity and business in creating powerful experiences that move the mission forward for nonprofits and businesses alike.

If you decide to experience the magic and insight of what it’s like to bring creative experiences and astute business together, click here to listen.

Choose the episode that has the best chance of making you a better person and a better leader, and make a decision. You can do it – I believe in you!

Until next week… Surfs Up! 🌊

  - Dave

P.S. Decisions. I love helping clients make good ones. At Imago Consulting, we do that through advising, strategic assessments, action plans, and coaching. If you have something you are wrestling with, a program that is flat that you want to see thrive in 2024, reach out, and let’s talk. If I think we can help or point you in the right direction, I’m happy to let you know.

About the Author | Dave Raley

Consultant, speaker, and writer Dave Raley is the founder of Imago Consulting, a firm that helps non-profits and businesses create profitable growth through sustainable innovation. He’s the author of a weekly trendspotting report called The Wave Report, and the co-founder of the Purpose & Profit Podcast — a show about the ideas at the intersection of nonprofit causes and for-profit brands.

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