When we enter this world we have no fear and we have no power. We can’t feed ourselves, we can’t talk, we can’t walk. It's this powerlessness that makes us restless. Restless to acquire the knowledge, the skills and the wisdom to make our dreams come true. Some may even say this restlessness is bravery or passion, just by another name. Our restlessness is insatiable.
Right Under My Nose
I woke up and told myself. I’m going to do this. I'm going to sit down. I'm going to learn what it takes to have a great website. I'm going to learn how to create great social media. Learn what it takes to hone my skills as an MC. Publish great content that can sell my skills as an artist, an entertainer. Every single day, I wrote out a list of what I needed to do. I’d probably get shot down. I would struggle. I would no doubt come up against another wall that would knock me down, but I kept getting up. I kept taking one small step forward every chance I could get and I could see myself turning my friend’s idea into a reality.
All for One and All Will Fall
When Alexander Dumas wrote his swashbuckling classic The Three Musketeers, he coined the phrase synonymous with this band adroit nobleman 'All for One and One for All'. It is thought by some to be the truest and most symbolic example of teamwork. We (the team are all in this together). Fast forward several centuries and our work lives are still all about 'the team' in many respects, only this time it's about getting things done and getting them done within our allotted hours of work. But what exactly are we all in for? What are we striving to achieve in the modern workday. The modern work week. Are we all in for the work or just to work?
Creativity & Emotional Intelligence are Strange Bedfellows
Lets be honest. Creativity can be a cranky, moody, tempestuous individual at times. Never satisfied. Always looking for the different angle, always searching for something new, quick to judge and often speaks before applying a social filter. Conversely, Emotional Intelligence (EQ) can be stable, happy, and diplomatic person who does their work, doesn't rock the boat and follows the company line. They are a jolly bunch even when things aren't going so well. EQs are admired by workmates because of their serenity and ability to remain cool under pressure. They are perfect employee... Or so we thought.
The Land of the Free and the Home of the Afraid
Fear is only ever a concept. It is a concept coined by humans to pigeon-hole feelings of loss of control, of strength, of purpose. But fear is the antithesis to security. When you feel secure you are secure. When you feel afraid you are afraid.
Why force change?
Any change that is forced, that is foisted is fraught with danger, both for the employer and more so for the employee. If an organisation cannot clearly outline the benefits for the change for the individual the organisation could find itself hoist upon its own petard in venturing down the change path purely for financial and economical gain.
Failing to act is acting to fail
We must give in to our curiosity. Just like kids in playground having a ride on new swing for the first time or a puppy experiencing new surroundings. There is excitement, there is trepidation, but there is a willingness to be positive and to come out the other side, bigger, stronger, with greater confidence and feeling safe.
Creativity versus Innovation?
For all the definitions of creativity and innovation that abound, from an organic perspective, creativity is the art of conception. Innovation is the art of successful gestation. Scott Berkun goes on to suggest that the best definition of innovation is significant positive change. When we create we are looking for the original, the new. When we innovate we want to put these new and original ideas into place.
Opinion & Perspective
Opinions and Perspectives are simply that. Not fact and not truth. Given this presumption, though, society's common thinking is that perception or perspective is truth. Is fact. Each and every one of our world's views' provides us with a frame of reference from which we develop these perceptions, these 'truths'. What we see, hear, smell, touch, taste and feel (don't forget the sixth sense) construct our own opinions and perceptions. They are our warm security blankets.
When you cheat, you lose.
Every day, the drafting of legislation, policy and procedure seeks to obfuscate simplicity in such new and eventful ways (almost at times it would seem with potentially sinister or class divisional intent) to explain things that simple, logical phrases already do. Our language is full of 'sayings'. Sayings that have stood the test of time because they never lose relevance and are always logical, fundamental and unequivocal. It's simple. When you cheat, you lose.
