…today’s secret…Find the 8.

There are 1, 147 number 9’s and 1 number 8 in this puzzle.

This puzzle triggered lot of thoughts…

…in 1989 a lone Chinese student protested his government by standing in front of a tank in Tiananmen Square. He was an 8 out of a billion 9’s. He was executed days later.

…an elderly Ukrainian women stood in front of a heavily armed Russian soldier and told him to, “Put sunflower seeds in your pocket so flowers will grow when you die.” Churchill would have wished he said that. She was definitely an 8.

…the marginalized population(s) you are wanting to help often get looked at as just a bunch of 9’s who live on society’s fringes.

Prison inmates are 9’s. The homeless are 9’s. The poor are 9’s. The uneducated are 9’s. The addicted are 9’s. Those with employment barriers are 9’s.

So, about you now.

You are a helping organization wanting to change hearts and minds of some of the above 9’s.

You may help by giving them a hand-out. Food? Shelter? Clothing?

You may help by giving them a hand-up. Adult education? Employment? Mentoring? Counseling, maybe? Church, maybe? Probation programming? Other?

The hope is that with your help they will work and play well with others and have a better tomorrow.

Either by handing-out or handing-up, or both, you live in a crowded marketplace of helping organizations…yes, you are in a sea of 9’s.

Question: How do you stand out and become the 8 in your sea of 9’s?

Answer: It is your organization’s personality that can distinguish you from your competitors.

Why? Personalities cannot be copied.

(1) Do you know your organization’s personality?
(2) Can you articulate your personality in two or three characteristics?
(3) Have you documented your creation story and other successful stories that explain why you do the things you do?

Hint. Here’s one characteristic that will help you become that 8 in your market of 9’s…

Ready?

Don’t think of the people you want to help as 9’s. Believe and act as though everyone is an 8.

But, you already know that. I just wanted to tweak your memory.

Surely you can take it from here. Right?