What if you could increase your capacity for prevention by identifying problems before they happened? It is possible with a process called upstream thinking.

I lived what I would call an "ignorance is bliss" life. Like most of us, I drove through communities seeing only what is on the surface--shopping malls, churches, schools, city halls and parks. No longer. I have lost my "bliss factor".

You don’t have to look hard to see what leadership looks like. Just watch the Minnesota Wild Hockey team since Bill Guerin took over as general manager and he named Dean Evason head coach.

Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity, Ambiguity. In a nutshell, the VUCA age requires new approaches to age-old processes, growth and open mindsets, broader perspectives and thinking on your feet.

Upstream Thinking is the quest to solve problems before they happen. Imagine what an equitable world it could be if we shifted our approach from downstream to upstream.

The nonprofit sector’s scarcity mindset didn’t originate on its own. It is in part due to the approach of philanthropy organizations, funders, donors, and grant makers. After all, they are responsible for prioritizing and determining what is appropriate to fund, how long it will be funded, and what hoops nonprofits must go through to get funded.

Much like having a stop sign on your forehead, a scarcity mindset gives off a message that says, "don't invest here, we are not worth it."

INspiring SIGHT, the name of my business was chosen because my work at its core is about helping others cultivate insight, new perspectives, creativity and possibilities--INspiring SIGHT was chosen based upon my very intimate relationship with its creation.