The Purposeful Machine
I deeply enjoy the process of how an adventure unfolds with the proper
planning and attention to details (such as maps, setting expectations, essential
supplies: tent poles and sleeping bags) but also the excitement that anything
can and likely will change your well thought out plans. This change element,
what I will give the attributes of synchronicity, help leaders stay agile if they
don’t already have too much on their plate.
Photo submission by Keith Crawford
Adventure Outings—Cal State University, Chico
AORE
CORPORATE & STRATEGIC
PARTNERS
Simply put, PathWrangler makes
building trips and sharing stories.
We've made it our mission to create
technology that not only helps people
get outside or travel near and far, but
that it continually inspires others to do
so. One of the pillars of our company
is to build tools that increase learning
and training for this industry. Another
is to automate business processes so
that outdoor and travel professionals
can spend less time on office tasks and
more time with their passions.
The School for
International
Expedition
Training is a 501
(c)3
nonprofit
institution that
is dedicated to providing a) risk
management,
technical
and
leadership training to aspiring
mountain guides, outdoor educators
and mountaineers and to b) provide
unparalleled, cutting edge training
at an affordable tuition.
If you would like to contribute to the
Association News please send your
submissions to [email protected]
no later than January 31st, 2015.
How do we as leaders know what is enough to pile on our plates? Well, over
the last 10 months, the AORE has looked around and asked a lot of questions
about this. What is it that we are doing and where do we want to go? What
values do we want to use as filters moving forward so we can stay focused on
the cornerstones of our purpose? Who will listen for, motivate on, and stay
focused on these goals?
In Jim Collins’ book Good to Great, he talks about getting the right people on
the bus, the right people in the right seats on the bus, the wrong people off
the bus and with these right people, you can not only weather change, you can
thrive in it.
The AORE bus is an agile, strong, purposeful machine. It has been built and
rebuilt over the years since the first conference in 1984 at Montana State
University. Drivers, organizers, and hosts have come and gone over these 30
years, with each person involved leaving their imprint.
What have we found looking into our past, filtering our present and visioning
our future? The Association, the membership has said that we should focus on
four main pillars: Advocacy, Organizational Health, Relationship Engagement
and Education. At the conference in Portland, groups of involved and devoted
members came together to further decide what goals within each of those
pillars needed attention sooner, and some people even stepped forward and
said that they wanted to begin making that action item a successfully
completed stepping stone into the future of our Association.
Jim Collins also discusses the idea of the flywheel, a large heavy metal disk
mounted on an axil that takes force and stamina to get moving and keep
moving. Large organizations don’t go from 0-60mph, or good to great
overnight. It takes getting the right people in the right seats in the
organization, and then having the focus of the organization fine tuned to see
the distant goals as well as the fine print moving forward. Our Strategic Plan
that was created by the membership as a tool to help focus each of our efforts,
our requests, and our motivations as we travel on this adventure.
If you would like to take ownership of a part of the Strategic Plan or join a
committee or working group that is working towards our goals, let us know at
[email protected].
Russ Watts
AORE Board of Directors
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