Outside the Box

A few months back, I played a few games of Hi Ho Cherry O with my four year-old nephew, Jonathan. The concept of the game is simple: spin the dial and the number it lands on is the number of cherries you get to put in your basket. It's a great game for a four year-old.

At the end of the second game, Jonathan gave the dial a spin and the arrow pointed to 0 cherries. I wondered if there would be a meltdown. Instead, he gave me a dazzling grin and spun the dial again. This time the arrow landed on 4 cherries. I protested and explained that the rules did not include a clause for spinning again if you didn't like what you got the first time. I might have saved my breath. The concept of rules is not yet firm in a four year-old's mind. The point is to get a lot of cherries in your basket. Point achieved.

Flashback to my childhood: when playing Chinese checkers, I used to fly my marbles to the other side when the "chips" were down. I would declare in a delighted way that it was my "airplane move." My family protested. My older brother got mad. I kept flying marbles across the board.

In many ways, using social media for a non-profit is changing the rules of the game. We all need to keep a bit of the four year-old inside us in order to have the courage to smile delightedly and try things differently. I ran across a great blog by Chris Perry (see Digital Next link to the right ) that explores the idea that social media is changing the game altogether. "...what if social media and its inherent benefits are so revolutionary, so potentially game-changing, that it takes time for people to figure out how to best use them? More fundamentally, what if organizational silos and constraints limit its potential to address a new brand-building equation?"

The idea is intriguing. I'm going to go fly some marbles.