I have used the moose-on the-table analogy for nearly ten years in my workshops, articles, keynote presentations, and The Leader’s Digest. As you can read in the Preface to Moose on the Table: A Novel Approach to Communications @ Work, I have an office full of moose stuff. I’ve also been collecting plenty of creative examples and variations of moose hunting activities. This issue of The Leader Letter contains some of those. We’re now building a moose hunting gallery/blog with photos and stories to inspire and guide you to follow in Pete Leonard’s footsteps (the central character in Moose on the Table).

One respondent to our Leader Letter survey question around what feature he or she would like to see added to the newsletter wrote “Moose Poop – stories of courage and results from putting the moose on the table.” As proof of the power of this metaphor, we had many comments around how the moose-on-the-table concept was being used or its impact. Here’s a sampling of anonyMOOSE quotes from the survey:

“I share your newsletter and articles weekly with the management team. ‘Is there a moose-on-the-table’ is a phrase we utilize regularly to break the ice and get past the initial ‘too polite’ stage of discussion.

“When I am teaching organizational theory/behaviors with Athabasca University, I refer them to your Leader Letter and often use your concepts in our discussions. I am really looking forward to reading your new moose book because I have used your moose-on-the-table metaphor extensively. In fact, I have my [stuffed toy] moose in my office and frequently take it to both work related and volunteer related (e.g., I chair our church congregation/board) meetings to help emphasize the importance of discussing the real issues in the meeting to help get them identified and resolved versus with partial information and minimal chance for favorable resolution over the kitchen table.”

“I share your Leader Letter and some of your Thoughts That Make You Go Hmmmmm comments with my managers (24 of them) and encourage them as well to subscribe. The moose-on-the-table is a real expression we use frequently.”

“Since reading about the moose-on-the-table, I have bought a fluffy version and have used it to great effect.”

“Instead of moose I use salmon (I live in British Columbia) when reminding our managers how we need to deal with an issue. Let’s deal with this salmon-on-the-table before it really starts to smell! This is one of many ideas I have taken from The Clemmer group… Please keep it up!”

Send your moose hunting stories and related experiences in dealing with difficult issues to me at Jim.Clemmer@Clemmergroup.com.