When people look at the web address for The Exploration Group, they ask,"What does Exploradelphia mean?" Fair question.
Exploradelphia comes from two root words, explore and adelphia. Explore makes sense to people. It is the process used to discover something that is unknown. It is defined as investigating systematically. I like that. There is recognition that there are ideas, strategies, places and processes still to be discovered.
Adelphia is a Greek word meaning brotherhood. There is a town in New Jersey called Adelphia, but the most famous connotation for me is connected with the Greek word Philos, meaning love, as in "City of Brotherly Love" Philadelphia.
Exploradelphia is the "Brotherhood of Explorers." People who come together as brothers (and sisters!) seeing what is not there yet, having a hope that they can find that which is next.
By nature, explorers are not loners. They travel by expedition with others, bringing together the skills of the whole team toward an overarching goal. There is a love for the exploration and the journey itself that lifts the participants toward the desired discovery.
Looking forward, I see not just an organization, The Exploration Group, but in time I see a movement of 21st century explorers; a brotherhood. People who not only see what is there now, but have the ability to see beyond today with new ideas for tomorrow. Their processes, their ideas and their organizations reflect a way of thinking that is beyond pragmatism, only seeing what is there now. They embrace the unknown and the impossible, knowing that with their imagination and openness they can move beyond what is to discover what might be.