Poking through 11+ years of posts I find information that’s as useful now as when it was written.
Golden Oldies is a collection of the most relevant and timeless posts during that time.
This Oldie doesn’t need commentary. It was valid when I wrote it in 2006, it’s even more valid in today’s world of social media and will still be valid at all times in the future.
Poking through 13+ years of posts I find information that’s as useful now as when it was written.
Golden Oldies is a collection of the most relevant and timeless posts during that time.
Six years since I wrote this and it’s only gotten worse. More time spent on social media, more time spent staring at a screen as the world goes by. But if people don’t reengage soon, the world they knew will no longer exist.
I had just finished unloading my cart at Home Depot the other day when a woman pulled up with her two young sons; when I offered her my cart she shook her head and kept walking.
There was a time when she might have offered to take the cart, but those times seem a part of the past.
Instead, she kept walking, talked to her sons and answered her cell phone.
Is the world really shrinking or is it just a narrowing of interactions and less interest in what’s around us in real-time?
The more distracted we become, and the more emphasis we place on speed at the expense of depth, the less likely and able we are to care.
Everyone wants his parent’s, or friend’s, or partner’s undivided attention — even if many of us, especially children, are getting used to far less. Simone Weil wrote, “Attention is the rarest and purest form of generosity.”
Each step “forward” has made it easier, just a little, to avoid the emotional work of being present, to convey information rather than humanity.
As usual, I am out of step.
I take back the carts, function beautifully sans cell/smartphone, pay attention to the humans in my orbit and love real-world interactions.
Digging in the dirt, conversation and reading (mostly cozy mystery fiction) are my favorite “time wasters;” no Facebook, Twitter or Candy Crush (my sister’s addiction).
I prefer to be connected to a few in the real world than connected to dozens (hundreds?) in the cyber world.
In short, I want to continue to pay attention and be present for whatever time I have left on this planet, whether decades or days.
I haven’t taken more than a few days off here and there since I started writing this blog in 2006 and that’s a long time.
I’ve also written numerous times that unwired vacations are critical to productivity and creativity.
The unwired part is especially critical — whether they are vacations or staycations.
Thus, from now until January 2 Mapping Company Success will go dark and I’ll indulge my staycation doing all the tuits I haven’t gotten ‘round to, which includes a clean, organized office.
Wow! I’m excited! (No sarcasm, I really am.)
That said, I do want to wish you a very special holiday before I unwire, so I looked for something special to share and I found it.
Something that fully embraces all my ambivalence of the season.
In the intro to yesterday’s post, about how boredom often triggers creativity, I referred to the hoops being jumped through to foster creativity in the workplace.
Unfortunately, it’s not working and that’s what to day’s post is about.
You may have noticed that creativity is all the rage—and not just among artists. American culture, and indeed the world, has become obsessed with manufacturing creative kids, who will turn into inventive workers, who will then become the innovative leaders we need in these rapidly-changing times. (…) As creativity is increasingly touted as the “premiere skill” of our time, [Diane] Senechal argues, there’s little interest in just letting this ability develop independently. Instead, it is being quantified, dissected and tested, taught and measured.
That approach may work on some talent, but developing creativity isn’t one of them.
In reality, that approach does more to destroy creativity than almost anything else.
The enormous number of major discoveries grounded in serendipity should be enough to convince people that structure and pressure don’t work.
If institutions really want to encourage creativity, in other words, they’ll have to develop the requisite patience to wait for it—and the ability to recognize what inventiveness is really made of. Insisting on innovation will never work, according to Senechal. “Perhaps the worst thing for creativity is dogma,” she argues. “Dogma delights in nothing; it insists on its own rigid ways.”
Of course, humans are notorious for believing they can improve any process by structuring it — even when it goes against research and proven results.
Bottom line, if you want your people to be more creative you need to let go, not hold on.
Poking through 11+ years of posts I find information that’s as useful now as when it was written.
Golden Oldies is a collection of the most relevant and timeless posts during that time.
Creativity and innovation are on every bosses’ mind and they do everything possible to create an environment and/or process to increase it — but it’s not working. In fact, as all those efforts are actually crippling creativity. Join me tomorrow for a look at what’s actually happening.
…a phenomenon that’s been identified by Edward de Bono, the legendary creative thinker. He calls it the “creative pause.” (…)The creative pause allows the space for your mind to drift, to imagine and to shift, opening it up to new ways of seeing.
From HBS’ Jim Heskett’s research question on deep thinking to my own comments on the value of silence, the need for undistracted time and the resulting creativity is well documented.
To be or not to be distracted is an individual free choice and can’t be dictated by others, but it is always wise to look at the consequences of one’s chosen actions.
Distracted driving kills people.
Distracted thinking kills creativity and innovation.
Poking through 11+ years of posts I find information that’s as useful now as when it was written.
Golden Oldies is a collection of the most relevant and timeless posts during that time.
In a world of Facebook/Twitter/WhatsApp/constant notifications/etc. knowing yourself is not high on people’s priority list. Partly, because it requires introspection sans distractions and partly because it is hard work and often uncomfortable. That said, it also provides the highest ROI of any action you may take.
I am in Chicago this week for a mini conference and learned a few things about the importance of attention to detail and preparation.
When my team and I arrived to set up our booth the first thing we learned is we had not paid attention to the details. We had not completed a step in our registration to have our badge scanner work. Initially I thought this would be an issue, but when I had valuable conversations with people on the floor I started asking them to write down their info in my notebook. The result was actual eye contact while speaking and getting a sense of the problem in their own words. Crisis averted but a rookie mistake.
During the course of the conference it was clear that the person in charge of setting up the event is a rockstar. She worked long hours, was dedicated to her role and was literally running around to get things done the day of. The venue was amazing, the speakers fresh and the food was on time.
However, about mid way through the morning the unexpected happened. The power went out.
Power outages and tech events typically do not mix well. As the information became available we leaned that it was not just the venue, but a few city blocks that were without power.
I’m not sure this event was in any contingency plan, but adjustments were made right away. The guest speaker lost his slides, but was able to speak from memory without a microphone. The attendees were forced to look up from laptops without WiFi and have true conversations. And the windows were opened to allow fresh air with the AC out.
The power ended up being out for 2 plus hours and it was interesting to see how people adjusted. The end result though was a memorable experience that led to some positive reviews from attendees. They appreciated that we could not control the power, liked the venue and enjoyed the conversations. Perhaps we can repeat the process next year.
I rarely disagree with what Ryan’s writes, but I feel so strongly about yesterday’s post that I need to say something.
Constant rushing as part of the human condition is a very recent thing, but it fits perfectly with the recent attitude that being busy proves/raises your value.
Think about it, can you really see Aristotle, Socrates, Plato, Lau Tzu, Sun Tzu, Voltaire, or, more recently, Churchill, Gates or Obama rushing around and not taking time to think?
I don’t believe that being in constant motion, rushing here and there, never taking time to read a book, play with your kids, revel in love and affection, or, yes, even smell the roses, is embedded in our DNA.
I think rushing goes hand-in-hand with being wired 24/7, FOMO, the constant demands of notifications, and the driving force of social media and smartphones.
And, as I’ve said before (and am likely to say again), no matter how long I live I doubt I’ll ever understand the fragility of egos that need to prove their value so badly they are willing to give up their lives to do it.
I spend a lot of time in airports and as a result I get time to people watch and observe folks from all walks of life. One thing is constant despite their background, they are in a rush. Now this could be a symptom of the location, however I think it is a bit wider than that.
I ate lunch with a good friend recently, we used to be colleagues and still keep in touch. One common topic is career progression and job hunting.
My friend is currently looking to move into a new phase of her career and one thing she invested in was professional resume help. She has connected with a service that will rewrite your resume and ensure that it passes the software filters most recruiters use now. In addition it provides a guarantee that you get a call back for an interview within 60 days.
When I asked why she was using a service she said simply, it was a faster way to her next move.
As I thought through these two stories it made me wonder if this is a modern incarnation or a human condition.
I don’t have the breadth of history to know what people 100 years ago thought on the subject. However if I am using an antidote I know that papers were printed with morning, afternoon and evening editions. This was before radio and TV, but it indicates something.
People wanted access to the news, fast. They didn’t want to wait and that sounds very much like our current culture.
So I’m not going to suggest you stop and smell the roses and meditate. I say embrace the rush and love it to its fullest knowing you are fulfilling a human condition that has existed for some time.
I read something today that made me take pause. It mentioned that in the early days of the internet, hen chat rooms were prevalent, you would tell people you were taking a break and would be back soon.
It was announced when you wouldn’t be there, because you had to literally sit at a computer to chat. Nowadays, we don’t need to do that as we are always on and always connected.
Until I read that post it didn’t occur to me how true that is. We can be at work, home, the beach and still be connected.
This is a topic touched on quite a bit and I have been intrigued by it for some time. When we are younger we can go to work and then home. They are separate entities. I had a job working at Pizza Hut as a teen. I can recall not once did I get home thinking about work or responding to emails. ( I did love it though, as I’m a huge pizza fan).
One result of that job was that I didn’t learn the lesson that sometimes work does need to be done at home or after hours. And now, as a professional, I struggle to figure out a balance to it all.
I had a CEO tell me one time that work and life are actually a blend.
There will typically not be a true balance, but both bleed into each other. As a father I find myself on my phone too much at home. Sometimes it’s work and sometimes not.
The blend idea teaches that the most important thing is to be present in the moment. It will pay dividends in the long run.
Being present may be the most important lesson I have learned on this topic.
And perhaps if we, as a society, put it in practice then work-life balance would not be such an issue.
I don’t believe there is one simple solution, but that would be good start.
Entrepreneurs face difficulties that are hard for most people to imagine, let alone understand. You can find anonymous help and connections that do understand at 7 cups of tea.
Crises never end.
$10 really does make a difference and you’ll never miss it,
