The most memorable speech of my career was about Oreo cookies. As someone with a decade of social media marketing on my resume, you would expect it to have been a speech about Dunk in the Dark.
Thankfully - it wasn't.
There so much more to learn from Oreo cookies than what a fully staffed marketing war room can do during the Super Bowl.
I was very involved in Residence Life during college. I was a Resident Assistant, in NRHH (National Residence Hall Honorary), and active in every level of NACURH including presenting at the national conference.
I was real nerdy for residence halls. It still pains me when people say dorms!
At one of those conferences, probably GLACURH '97, our keynote speaker was there to inspire us to improve our campus programming. He pulled out a package of Oreos. Oreos are a perfect treat. Beloved across the country. Simple. We always know what we're getting.
He suggested that we each had an Oreo idea in our programming team.
Then he pulled out Double Stuff. Our ideas could be improved. More people could be invited to participate. We could go bigger.
Golden Oreos. Our ideas could be reversed.
When I stand in front of a modern Oreo display with Mega Stuff, Birthday Cake, Mint, Thins, and all the new variations, I think about that speech. Every program we host, every idea we have, can be improved, reversed, tweaked.
As I kick off work with clients, I'm often asked, "what is the standard agenda for a retreat?" There is no standard agenda. I have building blocks - modules and modes of facilitation that I know work. But until I understand the problems you are trying to solve in your organization, I can't suggest an agenda.
Does your organization need a classic Oreo or Birthday Cake Oreo? Let's find out.
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