Unlimited Boundaries

While cross-functional work is crucial to organizational innovation and success, the recent Harvard Business Review article (Why Employees Who Work Across Silos Get Burned Out) reveals the hidden costs to employees working across silos. What are the leading organizations doing to prioritize creating a healthier, more collaborative work environment? I would love to hear! #CultureConsulting #EmployeeSupport #BurnoutPrevention #Purpose #OrganizationalInnovation #OrganizationalHealing #PracticeMakesProgress #OrganizationalSilos #WorkplaceWellness

Reflections: leading the designed experience of the 3rd annual Department of the Air Force, Learning Symposium - truly an honor. It's clear that community growth stems from THE PEOPLE. And boy, did we grow, together! Wendy Walsh- EdD, MPA, MEP exemplified a trusting leader, providing gracious space and embraced mission command. Setting the vision, and fostering a community bias toward action. Our approach to engaging with the community was elevated by the Unlimited Boundaries team, led by Jenny Hegland, who instilled and primed a culture of deep listening and understanding. W. Ethan Eagle🔴🟡 and Daniel Hulter‘s innovative methods allowed attendees to organically shape the agenda, empowering them to guide discussions in un-conference form. Sarah Nelson Bakhtiari, PhD is a strategic strike hard, strike fast collaborator whose efforts were instrumental in elevating the entire experience, while Rob Nyland, Ph.D. mindful touch brought unforgettable experiences like the fishbowl and poster gallery walk to life. Aaron Parker’s leadership and combined engineering prowess enabled him and Michael Weigner to gather live data from attendees, facilitating data-driven adjustments to our approach in real-time. Additionally, Aaron’s work on the APAN website ensured robust community engagement throughout the symposium. Dana Horn and Larisa Langley’s meticulous planning and coordination ensured that every logistical aspect, from venue to food to parking, was seamlessly executed. Trey G. Riley and his partner James Bowen artistic vision captured the essence of the symposium, producing a film that will inspire future contributors. Ryan Hunter and Sean Wen created masterful art, harvested from deep discussions to portray visual reflection to key moments. Dr. Stephanie Rollins built a library guide to house the body of knowledge from these event, making all artifacts accessible to Air University students and alumni. With over 90 dedicated professionals, we created an atmosphere of connectedness and shared vision, raising awareness around competency-based development and talent management. This gathering was nothing short of special, it revealed the power of a team in-tune to emergence around a vibrant and ready-to-charge community. I'm proud to have been a thread in this stitch and look forward to building on this momentum! Looking forward to sharing more soon! #LearningSymposium #CommunityEngagement #TalentManagement Air Education and Training Command Agitare #TheArtOfGathering

💡𝐖𝐇𝐀𝐓 𝐈𝐅… the solutions to meet the challenges of our time could be found in our own backyard? 🌱 “Releasing the #potential of all the #wisdom gained for thousands of years is as easy as setting the #seed in the right seed starting medium… and it sprouts.”  - The Celestial Garden ❓𝐇𝐨𝐥𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐀 𝐐𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 In January, Aaron Aslin and I began nourishing a seed, holding the question: what would it look like to bring Impact Hub Network to #Viroqua? We initiated a #discovery process to #listen deeply to the emerging needs and dreams of our #rural #community. When asked to describe Viroqua to a friend, one community member said: 𝘐𝘵’𝘴 𝘨𝘰𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘮𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘧𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘨𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘥𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘮𝘪𝘹𝘦𝘥 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘪𝘯𝘯𝘰𝘷𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯, 𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘯-𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘥𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘥𝘦𝘦𝘱 𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘯𝘷𝘪𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘩𝘪𝘨𝘩 𝘲𝘶𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘧𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘴. This was 1 of 37 community survey responses, where people spoke of the unique #beauty of Viroqua. A burgeoning #cultural hub in the #driftless region of #Wisconsin, attracting entrepreneurs, activists, artists, educators, spiritual and political leaders of all stripes. 🌻𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐖𝐞 𝐇𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐋𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐓𝐡𝐮𝐬 𝐅𝐚𝐫 We sought to get a holistic sense of Viroqua, what matters most to the community, challenges, #stuckness, and sources of #energy. We learned that the issues at the 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 of what was most impacting our community AND where there was the most energy for co-creating solutions were: ➡️ Increasing polarization ➡️ Lack of affordable housing ➡️ Lack of meaningful careers 🦋𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐖𝐞 𝐒𝐞𝐞 𝐀𝐬 𝐏𝐨𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐛𝐥𝐞 We see Viroqua as a vibrant #ecosystem for #innovation and #entrepreneurship. A place where ideas are cared for like seeds and planted in fertile soil that support their #growth and #development. A place where #diverse perspectives feel safe enough to gather and create, generate dialogue, and celebrate solutions to the challenges of our time. We see this vision coming to life through: ✔️ Connecting dots between old and new ✔️ Creating neutral spaces ✔️ Hosting generative conversations ✔️ Brokering transparent funding and equitable deal flow 💫𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐃𝐨𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐒𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐤 𝐢𝐧 𝐘𝐨𝐮? #Co-#creation is the name of the game. We would love to hear what resonates for you. What do you see? Are there powerful questions you would like to share? What #nutrients would you like to offer up to our collective soil? 📣 And! If you are in Wisconsin, please head to the 🔗 in comments and share your #perspective in the community survey. 💌 Stay tuned for more updates as we continue on the journey of discovery - sensing into the question of what an Impact Hub could like in Viroqua. With love and excitement, Arielle & Aaron

Feeling incredibly inspired and grateful to have spent 3-days exploring Happiness 😀 as way to greater peace - as individuals and in relationships across communities and in workplaces. Thanks to the University for Peace (UPEACE) - UN Mandated's UPEACE Centre for Executive Education for hosting this annual gathering in non-other than the beautiful Costa Rica. A few of my highlights: ⭐️ Dr. Sonja Lyubomirsky, Distinguished Professor of Psychology at the University of California-Riverside, author, and speaker. One takeaway from her keynote research on lasting happiness: the more connected we feel, the happier we are. ⭐️ Ashish Kothari's work at the HAPPINESS SQUAD where he's asking powerful questions around purpose beyond profit and moving organizations from one-off trainings to whole-organization transformation by enabling teams. ⭐️ The work of UPEACE Centre for Executive Education including Mohit Mukherjee, Julia Delafield, Stephanie Knox Steiner, PhD, Rey Sirakavit, MA Ed., and many others, who brought innovative organizing practices like the World Cafe to this event to help shift and spark new ideas and conversation. Thank you! #ggh2024

“20% of staff are being laid off.” The percentage may vary, but these words have been uttered around countless offices over the past many years, bringing with them fear, anxiety, anger, and resentment. Early in my career I accepted a position at a large non-profit organization full of hope and excitement about the change I could help create in the world. Within the first six months into my job, I heard these dreadful words. Colleagues with incredible tenure, institutional knowledge, and talent were dismissed. One day they were there. The next day they were not. I was stunned. What started as a new growth opportunity, abound with great promise and possibility, quickly shifted to an environment of scarcity and survival. I recall the feeling of a black cloud hanging over those of us remaining after the layoffs. There were quiet hallways, a “heads down”and “get your work done” atmosphere, and colleagues whispered to each other in closed office spaces. There was a lingering unknown of what was around any proverbial corner. Additional reorganizing announcements? More layoffs? Inevitably more responsibility, and elevated stress levels. A normal response to uncertainty is the siloed mindset of scarcity. Beyond layoffs, there are myriad sources of uncertainty, such as public health crises, AI (artificial intelligence), and economic turbulence, to name a few. Brain science tells us that when we’re in survival and scarcity mode, cognitive function is impaired. That mode applies to organizational behaviors and actions, too, which shuts down creativity and productivity. Instead of being innovative, collaborative, and feeling motivated to bring their best each day, employees in this mode operate with a “heads down and stay in your lane” mindset, feeling like everything is urgent. In short, organizations lose a lot when team members are in this siloed state of mind. People who stay may feel worn down and unmotivated. As I reflect on my personal experience, I now know that in the wake of layoffs and organizational restructuring, the lines and boxes of reporting matrices aren’t the only thing we need to pay attention to. We also have to remember how to work together again. A new configuration of people and revised organizational mandates are opportunities to reaffirm or create new ways of working. At Unlimited Boundaries we help teams work better together across silos. Through personalized facilitation services we help organizations and teams connect, communicate, collaborate. Join us for a free 60-minute participatory workshop Stuck in Silos: 7 Habits that Hold Us Back. We’ll share new insights and inspiration to level-up your team collaboration. If you’re an organizational or team leader who cares about transforming workplaces to promote flourishing, this opportunity is for you. Registration 🔗 in comments