Wednesday, 10 September 2008
Creativity: The Other Global Crisis
Perhaps one of the most eloquent and engaging speakers I have heard is Sir Ken Robinson. he has this style which instantly puts one at ease whilst totally drawing us in to what he has to say. If you want an example, pour yourself a coffee and Watch Ken Robinson Talk to see him in action (opens in a new window ... use the 'Close Window' button after viewing).
In one of his more recent appearances he continued to present some uncomfortable facts which will impact us all unless things change. Here is a sample of out-takes from his talk. Full article here (opens in a new window).
In one of his more recent appearances he continued to present some uncomfortable facts which will impact us all unless things change. Here is a sample of out-takes from his talk. Full article here (opens in a new window).
- The world is facing a crisis of human resources ... "I believe that fundamentally we have both underestimated and continue to misuse - if not actually abuse - many of our most important talents; our talents, our children's talents, and the talents of the people who work with us. And unless we fix [this crisis], I feel we're not going to make much progress fixing the other one."
- Both crises are the result of our "industrial mindset," which is incompatible with modern society and modern business. Both manifest themselves in terms of imbalances. In the natural world it is the imbalance of gases in our atmosphere, although human activity is also disrupting many other ecosystems. In society we have legions of people dislocated from their own talents, legions of people suffering from all kinds of anxiety, legions of people in dysfunctional communities. And there is an enormous cost of handling this.
- In California (Robinson's new home town) spends $3.5bn a year on the state university system; it spends $9.9bn on the state prison system. Similar figures exist for other Western countries, as well as other US states. The UK spends millions of pounds a year on remedial education, to try to get kids through a system which many of them are bucking against. And we spend millions of pounds a year on career counselling, because people have not found their way.
- The result for educators, employers and HR professionals is that it is vital to have an understanding of "the ecology of human resources.
- As a society, we must improve our understanding of human capabilities. We believe mistakenly that creativity and intelligence vary in inverse proportion to one another. The things we take for granted as being true are the real problem; the enemy of making the best of ourselves is common sense.
- Thankfully creativity is not dead but merely latent, in most adults.
- Work by Land and Jarman showed that in a smaple of 1,500 children aged 3-5, 98% ranked as "geniuses" in divergent thinking. In children aged between 8 and 10 years the figure fell to just 32% and by the time children had reached between 13 and 15 years it had declined further to a mere 10%. In other words, children become less creative as they grow older. What coincides with this period of development, aside from hormonal changes and socialisation, is that they enter formal education where they have learnt a) there is one answer to every question, b) don't look, because that's cheating and c) don't copy from anybody else, because that's cheating too ... even though outside of school we call this collaboration.
- This mindset goes well beyond school and college. Land and Jarman also performed a control test of two-thousand adults (aged 25+) where only 2% ranked as geniuses. We don't grow into creativity, we grow out of it, because of the ways in which we become institutionalised and socialised. Education is a big piece of this, but work is an even bigger piece.
- Creativity is most frequently associated, in the workplace, with innovation but it is equally important in helping society cope with, and harness, technological advances. No matter what we do or where we do it, technology is going to swamp us: new information systems are going to subvert all the things we take for granted.
- The over-25s think we're OK, but we're not that great. We have learnt digital technology like a second language, so we kind of speak phrasebook digital compared with our children. IT systems are becoming more and more pervasive, but they're not fundamentally avoiding the powerful need for better and better use of human resources. To the contrary. Human resource is the only way we can engage with these things properly ... and at this moment we are locked into an industrial mindset about our own capabilities.
- Business people can help to nurture creativity and imagination by thinking of organisations as organisms rather than organisations A better metaphor is from agriculture. A farmer can't make a plant grow. A plant grows itself. A good farmer provides the conditions for growth. And a great plant doesn't just grow from the top, it grows everywhere simultaneously, as do healthy organisations, which have a reciprocating relationship among the parts.
- There is a huge difference between a creative team and a committee: great creative teams require real expertise among managers and leaders to work. It's a skill-set that we need to be teaching managers and leaders.
- Great teams, large or small, are deliberately diverse: they have people from different backgrounds, experiences, ages and responsibilities in the organisation. The processes employed by these teams ensure that their diversity is not an impediment but a resource.
The best senior managers are those who are not afraid to let teams congregate for specific tasks and then disband, to form other teams as necessary, perhaps one of the best ways to spread cultural information around the organisation. - It is essential to create the right habitat, in terms of culture and environment. Anyone who is serious about making more of people must be serious about the environment in which they work. And not just the colour of the walls: innovative organisations have a rigorous approach to questioning algorithms of behaviour and changing the environment as need be.
Challenging stuff.
What I think is obvious is that we have a long way to go. BUT we need to make a start, no matter how small to change the inertia of creative decline. and just perhaps some of our organisations and social structures will be rebuilt into healthy living cultures.
Until next time ...
Labels: adults, business, children, creative crisis, education, emotional intelligence, genius rating, industry, ken robinson, teams
Tuesday, 9 September 2008
Success in Failure; Humility in Leadership
Whilst hopping around the Internet recently I came across a great article on The London Business Forum website from an interview with Sir Richard Branson. As I read it, I was struck by an individual who is totally passionate about what he does whilst also being ready to learn, change and improve.
I remember Richard Branson being set-up for a fall on more than one occasion by our beloved British Press. When he was trying something new or attempting a new record, the snipers of the true British spirit shot … and if he failed, the “I told you so” or “You read it first in the ***” kinds of headlines prevailed. It was more important that he’d failed than what he’d attempted. And yet, if we talk to any successful businessman, failure is always on their list and it’s seen as part of their road to success (and perhaps that is why so many of our current journalists will never be successful … but that’s another story!).
Anyway, please enjoy the following except from Sir Richard’s interview:
‘Many of the audience wanted Branson to dispense some entrepreneurial advice, and he didn’t disappoint, mixing the common-sense with some fascinating and salutary anecdotes. “The importance of protecting the downside,” was a key lesson to learn, he said. This is why, when he cut a deal with Boeing to buy his first second-hand 747, it included an option to sell the plane back after one year. Boeing’s only concern, he said, was that Virgin “wouldn’t live up to its name but would actually go all the way.”
Similarly, he had a valuable tip on how to retain entrepreneurial dynamism while you’re growing: as soon as the number of staff hits 100, split the firm in two. In this way, he said, Virgin Records ended up being 20 different companies that “didn’t even share switchboards”. It’s a philosophy that Virgin still tries to observe in spite of its gigantic size. Of the group’s 200 branded companies, “none of them are massive in any particular field,” Branson said, and each has to stand on its own two feet”. The people who lead each business are managing directors, and are incentivised accordingly. “Virgin has created about 200 millionaires over the years,” he revealed.
The moment you go from one company to two companies, you’ve got to start learning the art of delegation, he added. “So what I try to do when we set up new businesses [is this]: I’ll go in, I’ll immerse myself for a month or two, I’ll learn all about that industry, so that if a managing director does come to me and wants to talk to me about mobile phones or trains, I’ll know something.”
True delegation means giving people the freedom to make mistakes, he said. “[My parents] would always look for the best in what [I] did. They were great believers in lots and lots of praise… And I think if you’re the leader of a company, this is even more important. You shouldn’t be looking for people slipping up, you should be looking for all the good things people do and praising those. People know when they’ve slipped up, they don’t need to be told.”
Another defining characteristic of Branson’s personal management style was his willingness to be humble, and to listen to criticism, where staff and customers are concerned. “I do try to make an effort,” he said. “If I’m on a Virgin plane, I’ll try to meet all the passengers. I’ll have a little notebook in my back pocket. I’ll meet all the staff.” He stressed the importance of tiny details, saying that only by getting these right will you end up with “an exceptional company rather than an average company.”
Ultimately, business is not about “balance sheets, money, profits and loss,” he argued. It is about “creating something you’re really proud of, something the people who work for you can be really proud of… the actual business aspect is simply there to be mopped up at the end.”
The fact that he never got a tight grasp of financial matters was probably a benefit, he suggested, in that it persuaded him never to bring in accountants too early in the development of a venture. “You’ll get one firm of accountants that will tell you, based on their own preconceptions, why starting an airline is a ghastly idea and every other airline fails and you’re going to lose a lot of money. You’ll get another set of accountants who’ll tell you why they think you’re going to make money. But they have no idea one way or the other.”
Far more important is to create something that you, yourself, really want and value, he concluded. “If it’s exceptionally good then people will always turn up and use it.”
Perhaps it’s time to regain and re-embrace some of the old ‘British Spirit’ without being ashamed (and without extreme nationalism). And it’s time to put to death the insipid political correctness that will undoubtedly ruin so many ventures. We are not all the same. Celebrate the fact and be prepared to try to succeed, even if we must embrace failure.
Above all, be prepared to be humble; to learn, to change, to improve … and to acknowledge that we may not have all the answers on our own, but they are often in our colleagues, friends and family if we are prepared to look.
Until next time …
I remember Richard Branson being set-up for a fall on more than one occasion by our beloved British Press. When he was trying something new or attempting a new record, the snipers of the true British spirit shot … and if he failed, the “I told you so” or “You read it first in the ***” kinds of headlines prevailed. It was more important that he’d failed than what he’d attempted. And yet, if we talk to any successful businessman, failure is always on their list and it’s seen as part of their road to success (and perhaps that is why so many of our current journalists will never be successful … but that’s another story!).
Anyway, please enjoy the following except from Sir Richard’s interview:
‘Many of the audience wanted Branson to dispense some entrepreneurial advice, and he didn’t disappoint, mixing the common-sense with some fascinating and salutary anecdotes. “The importance of protecting the downside,” was a key lesson to learn, he said. This is why, when he cut a deal with Boeing to buy his first second-hand 747, it included an option to sell the plane back after one year. Boeing’s only concern, he said, was that Virgin “wouldn’t live up to its name but would actually go all the way.”
Similarly, he had a valuable tip on how to retain entrepreneurial dynamism while you’re growing: as soon as the number of staff hits 100, split the firm in two. In this way, he said, Virgin Records ended up being 20 different companies that “didn’t even share switchboards”. It’s a philosophy that Virgin still tries to observe in spite of its gigantic size. Of the group’s 200 branded companies, “none of them are massive in any particular field,” Branson said, and each has to stand on its own two feet”. The people who lead each business are managing directors, and are incentivised accordingly. “Virgin has created about 200 millionaires over the years,” he revealed.
The moment you go from one company to two companies, you’ve got to start learning the art of delegation, he added. “So what I try to do when we set up new businesses [is this]: I’ll go in, I’ll immerse myself for a month or two, I’ll learn all about that industry, so that if a managing director does come to me and wants to talk to me about mobile phones or trains, I’ll know something.”
True delegation means giving people the freedom to make mistakes, he said. “[My parents] would always look for the best in what [I] did. They were great believers in lots and lots of praise… And I think if you’re the leader of a company, this is even more important. You shouldn’t be looking for people slipping up, you should be looking for all the good things people do and praising those. People know when they’ve slipped up, they don’t need to be told.”
Another defining characteristic of Branson’s personal management style was his willingness to be humble, and to listen to criticism, where staff and customers are concerned. “I do try to make an effort,” he said. “If I’m on a Virgin plane, I’ll try to meet all the passengers. I’ll have a little notebook in my back pocket. I’ll meet all the staff.” He stressed the importance of tiny details, saying that only by getting these right will you end up with “an exceptional company rather than an average company.”
Ultimately, business is not about “balance sheets, money, profits and loss,” he argued. It is about “creating something you’re really proud of, something the people who work for you can be really proud of… the actual business aspect is simply there to be mopped up at the end.”
The fact that he never got a tight grasp of financial matters was probably a benefit, he suggested, in that it persuaded him never to bring in accountants too early in the development of a venture. “You’ll get one firm of accountants that will tell you, based on their own preconceptions, why starting an airline is a ghastly idea and every other airline fails and you’re going to lose a lot of money. You’ll get another set of accountants who’ll tell you why they think you’re going to make money. But they have no idea one way or the other.”
Far more important is to create something that you, yourself, really want and value, he concluded. “If it’s exceptionally good then people will always turn up and use it.”
Perhaps it’s time to regain and re-embrace some of the old ‘British Spirit’ without being ashamed (and without extreme nationalism). And it’s time to put to death the insipid political correctness that will undoubtedly ruin so many ventures. We are not all the same. Celebrate the fact and be prepared to try to succeed, even if we must embrace failure.
Above all, be prepared to be humble; to learn, to change, to improve … and to acknowledge that we may not have all the answers on our own, but they are often in our colleagues, friends and family if we are prepared to look.
Until next time …
Labels: delegate responsibility, encouragement, entrepreneurs, failure, humility, management skills, personal conviction, second hand boeing 747, sir richard branson, success, successful business values, virgin
Sunday, 7 September 2008
How Creative is Creative?
I often get into discussions about creativity and I'm amazed how few understand what the word means. Most seem to apply the term creative to a strange breed of artistic misfits, 'the creatives' who don't really fit in but are a necessary evil for success of the business.
But many people are really surprised when I begin enthusing about each of us being creative. I see furrowed brows as they wrestle with the idea that they may possess something that is so 'out of the ordinary.'
But is it?
I guess that for many of us the idea of creativity is alien because we haven't engaged it since primary school. Thankfully, there are those who have managed to retain their creative skills, through hard work, battling against the odds, a good teacher/tutor or just out of passion for what they do. From them we can all learn a lesson. To them, creativity is nothing special; it is a part of who they are and what they do.
And I think therein lies the secret. As we engage with our creativity more and more often, our practice becomes a habit, and our habit begins to influence whatever we do, wherever we do it. It is no longer something out of the ordinary; it becomes part of our ordinary.
So how creative is creative?
The answer is different for every person. I think that the question is not one of quantity but quality and of how we apply what we have.
What we need to do is discover and identify just what our creativity is ...
But many people are really surprised when I begin enthusing about each of us being creative. I see furrowed brows as they wrestle with the idea that they may possess something that is so 'out of the ordinary.'
But is it?
I guess that for many of us the idea of creativity is alien because we haven't engaged it since primary school. Thankfully, there are those who have managed to retain their creative skills, through hard work, battling against the odds, a good teacher/tutor or just out of passion for what they do. From them we can all learn a lesson. To them, creativity is nothing special; it is a part of who they are and what they do.
And I think therein lies the secret. As we engage with our creativity more and more often, our practice becomes a habit, and our habit begins to influence whatever we do, wherever we do it. It is no longer something out of the ordinary; it becomes part of our ordinary.
So how creative is creative?
The answer is different for every person. I think that the question is not one of quantity but quality and of how we apply what we have.
What we need to do is discover and identify just what our creativity is ...
Labels: applying creativity, creative, creative potential, creative secrets, creativity in business, misunderstanding, ordinary people extraordinary potential, the creatives
Thursday, 21 August 2008
Bridge Builder, Pace Setter or Record Breaker?
How often do we come up against an issue or problem and immediately think,
"I can't do that"?
How often do we look to others to solve our problems because we feel inadequate?
Why do we think others find things easier than we do?
In reality, our insecurities and failure to identify our own strengths can be a real barrier to our success ... as can our fear of criticism of others if we fail.
But take heart! Just about all of the most successful people in every walk of life have made serious mistakes. In fact some of them even declare that they expect to make mistakes in order to succeed. Many of today's multi-millionaires have failed badly, to the point of bankruptcy. But their main strength is a failure to accept defeat when they are down. They learn from their mistakes, apply that knowledge and continue to strive for success.
Look at the competitors in the Beijing 2008 Olympic games. We see the victors, who have trained hours each day for many years to achieve their peak which enables them to take on the rest of the world and win.
But think also about those athletes who don't come in the top 3 positions ...
Think also of the bigger picture ...
And for those medal winners (in some spectacular cases, previously unknown athletes) who have dedicated themselves to training and discipline; they have reaped rewards beyond their expectations. But they can't just stop here. The will need the same (possibly greater) focus and dedication to stay at the top of their sport until the decide to retire.
We may all have different goals, different reasons for doing things, different abilities and different strengths, but we all have the ability to try for somthing we currently find impossible and achieve it. The sub-4-minute mile was considered impossible until Roger Bannister achieved it. Interestingly, when that barrier had been overcome, many other athletes broke the same barrier within a short time after the original record had been set. Why was that? perhaps it was simply the fact that their targets had been re-set because of the achievement of one other person. The impossible had become possible.
So what are our targets? Do we want to be the pace setters or the followers? Both are important. We need to decide in our own mind and then head for that target, and in order to achieve that goal we may need to rethink about ourselves, what we are achieving and what we can achieve.
Pablo Picasso wrote, "I am always doing that which I can not do in order that I may learn how to do it"
Interestingly, Sir Kenneth Robinson also wrote, "Creativity suppressed either deserts or subverts."
Are we going to suppress our own abilitites through lack of self belief or fear of failure?
I hope not.
Until next time ...
"I can't do that"?
How often do we look to others to solve our problems because we feel inadequate?
Why do we think others find things easier than we do?
In reality, our insecurities and failure to identify our own strengths can be a real barrier to our success ... as can our fear of criticism of others if we fail.
But take heart! Just about all of the most successful people in every walk of life have made serious mistakes. In fact some of them even declare that they expect to make mistakes in order to succeed. Many of today's multi-millionaires have failed badly, to the point of bankruptcy. But their main strength is a failure to accept defeat when they are down. They learn from their mistakes, apply that knowledge and continue to strive for success.
Look at the competitors in the Beijing 2008 Olympic games. We see the victors, who have trained hours each day for many years to achieve their peak which enables them to take on the rest of the world and win.
But think also about those athletes who don't come in the top 3 positions ...
- Do they see that as failure?
- Does that make their efforts a waste of time?
Think also of the bigger picture ...
- National pride (such as the Afghan Taekwondo bronze medal winner who won his much troubled country's first ever Olympic medal)
- Potential for improvement
- Opportunity to learn from errors and improve
And for those medal winners (in some spectacular cases, previously unknown athletes) who have dedicated themselves to training and discipline; they have reaped rewards beyond their expectations. But they can't just stop here. The will need the same (possibly greater) focus and dedication to stay at the top of their sport until the decide to retire.
We may all have different goals, different reasons for doing things, different abilities and different strengths, but we all have the ability to try for somthing we currently find impossible and achieve it. The sub-4-minute mile was considered impossible until Roger Bannister achieved it. Interestingly, when that barrier had been overcome, many other athletes broke the same barrier within a short time after the original record had been set. Why was that? perhaps it was simply the fact that their targets had been re-set because of the achievement of one other person. The impossible had become possible.
So what are our targets? Do we want to be the pace setters or the followers? Both are important. We need to decide in our own mind and then head for that target, and in order to achieve that goal we may need to rethink about ourselves, what we are achieving and what we can achieve.
Pablo Picasso wrote, "I am always doing that which I can not do in order that I may learn how to do it"
Interestingly, Sir Kenneth Robinson also wrote, "Creativity suppressed either deserts or subverts."
Are we going to suppress our own abilitites through lack of self belief or fear of failure?
I hope not.
Until next time ...
Labels: achieving goals, athletes, beijing, business success, dedication, improve productivity, learning, mistakes, olympics, personal goals targets, record breaking, success in life, target setting, training, winning
Monday, 17 March 2008
The Invisible Creatives Amongst Us
"We need more creatives."
"Where are our creative people?"
"Where will we find the next generation of creative people for our business?"
"What is creativity?"
"We've always done it this way; how can we change?"
These are all issues I've discussed with friends over the past month or so. Creativity is seen almost as the Holy Grail, yet like the Holy Grail, it is elusive, can't be found, remains a mystery. It is something restricted to certain 'gifted' artistic individuals, or to a group of social misfits who sit isolated in their own thoughts dreaming up ideas.
The truth is that creativity is not restricted neither are creatives 'misfits'. In order to be truly creative, interpersonal skills are prerequisite; interaction is important and the good news is that it is present in normal people! We all have the potential to apply creativity, whether we work in a scientific, mathematical, engineering, human science or artistic environment.
The question isn't so much,"Where are the creatives?"
but more
"How can I discover and apply my own creative abilities?"
We tend to think that the grass is greener on the other side; someone else always has better resources than us; someone else always has better ideas than us.
But is that true?
These 'other people' potentially start with the same resources as we do but develop them in a different way, or perhaps they are able to see the potential in who and what they have! The trend over recent years has been to hire the bright young graduates emerging from our centres of academic excellence, replacing existing experience with a new vibrant culture.
But how new and how vibrant is it? Sure there's lots of energy, so I guess in that sense it is vibrant. But how can people emerging from an educational system, still naïve in so many areas of life, experience and reality possibly hope to contribute significantly to our creative culture, if it's not been there in their education? And how can people who are uncreative (the majority emerging from this 'acreative' educational culture) then teach others to be creative? I would suggest that the answer is 'With difficulty.'
However, if we take time to look closer at our people we will surely see a wealth of potential. Perhaps the silver foxes with their experience do have something to offer after all! Perhaps their years of effort, challenges, mistakes and triumphs count a lot more than we realise towards a creative culture we seek after so earnestly. Creativity involves risk, experiment, a combination of experience with naïvity; bringing together different personalities, who perhaps don't naturally sit comfortably together, rubbing the corners off each other to produce a creative spark.
The companies that know the importance of creativity and the creative culture thrive and grow, identifying and releasing it within their existing staff, harnessing the benefits of experience and tempered persistence along with the enthusiasm of newcomers.
Companies that don't, including some of our big corporate players are likely to become historical names in the not too distant future unless they fail to embrace the concept and change accordingly.
"Where are our creative people?"
"Where will we find the next generation of creative people for our business?"
"What is creativity?"
"We've always done it this way; how can we change?"
These are all issues I've discussed with friends over the past month or so. Creativity is seen almost as the Holy Grail, yet like the Holy Grail, it is elusive, can't be found, remains a mystery. It is something restricted to certain 'gifted' artistic individuals, or to a group of social misfits who sit isolated in their own thoughts dreaming up ideas.
The truth is that creativity is not restricted neither are creatives 'misfits'. In order to be truly creative, interpersonal skills are prerequisite; interaction is important and the good news is that it is present in normal people! We all have the potential to apply creativity, whether we work in a scientific, mathematical, engineering, human science or artistic environment.
The question isn't so much,"Where are the creatives?"
but more
"How can I discover and apply my own creative abilities?"
We tend to think that the grass is greener on the other side; someone else always has better resources than us; someone else always has better ideas than us.
But is that true?
These 'other people' potentially start with the same resources as we do but develop them in a different way, or perhaps they are able to see the potential in who and what they have! The trend over recent years has been to hire the bright young graduates emerging from our centres of academic excellence, replacing existing experience with a new vibrant culture.
But how new and how vibrant is it? Sure there's lots of energy, so I guess in that sense it is vibrant. But how can people emerging from an educational system, still naïve in so many areas of life, experience and reality possibly hope to contribute significantly to our creative culture, if it's not been there in their education? And how can people who are uncreative (the majority emerging from this 'acreative' educational culture) then teach others to be creative? I would suggest that the answer is 'With difficulty.'
However, if we take time to look closer at our people we will surely see a wealth of potential. Perhaps the silver foxes with their experience do have something to offer after all! Perhaps their years of effort, challenges, mistakes and triumphs count a lot more than we realise towards a creative culture we seek after so earnestly. Creativity involves risk, experiment, a combination of experience with naïvity; bringing together different personalities, who perhaps don't naturally sit comfortably together, rubbing the corners off each other to produce a creative spark.
The companies that know the importance of creativity and the creative culture thrive and grow, identifying and releasing it within their existing staff, harnessing the benefits of experience and tempered persistence along with the enthusiasm of newcomers.
Companies that don't, including some of our big corporate players are likely to become historical names in the not too distant future unless they fail to embrace the concept and change accordingly.
Labels: business, business success, corporate business, creative potential, creativity, creativity in business, culture, developing a creative culture, experience, impacts of creativity
Saturday, 26 January 2008
Blindicles for the Arts or Articles for the Blind?
'Articles for the Blind' frequently fall through the letterbox of my blind friend.
I use the term blind rather than the PC 'visually impaired' because many of us sighted people hear the term 'visually impaired' ('VI' to those in the know!!) and think instinctively of someone who 'can't see very well'. I use the term blind because this friend does not have any perception of light or dark, let alone image discernment; her vision is 100% impaired … plus some!!
I have learnt a huge amount from this friend, including that two of the most frequent misconceptions are:
Surprised?
Isn't creativity a visually inspired thing?
Obviously not.
When I first discovered that my friend had no perception of light and dark, I was intrigued to find out what she 'saw' when she closed her eyes: Was it black? Was it white? Was there colour?
Her response made me take a step back … "No! There is just nothing!"
Yet, as we talked about colour and shade and clothes and house decorations I was staggered that she had the most amazing concept of colour and co-ordination. She could go into her wardrobe and pull out clothes that matched and then go to her jewellery and find an appropriate necklace and earrings. It didn't matter to me whether what I saw as green related to how my friend saw green. I was confronted with was a lady who, when she closed her eyes (or kept them open for that matter) could 'see nothing' yet could perceive in her mind colour matches and co-ordination to fine degrees of detail.
My friend could describe pictures she saw in her mind, musical pictures that were stimulated through conversation, sounds, taking a walk … many things. During discussions new light would be thrown on old problems simply because she was able to see things from a different perspective. And it was amazing how many times those ideas were the key that unlocked the door to new discoveries and new ways of doing things.
I was struck how differently we could see situations; metaphorically and physically (though she had a slight disadvantage!) and yet how synergistic these views often were. They weren't 'right' or 'wrong'; they complimented each other, rubbed against each other, challenged each other and in so doing released something new. One of the great things about creativity is that it can be sparked when we come face-to-face with people who see things very differently from us, in this case, quite literally! Some magic moments occur when my view is challenged or even destroyed by that of my friend. These are the times when connections are made between things that don’t naturally connect for me and true creativity is born.
I know that my perspective on life has been greatly enriched by knowing this friend. I hope that each of us can find something fresh from relationships that we have in business or our personal lives that may have become stale or contentious because of our very different views.
Perhaps if we see the potential rather than the problem we will all benefit.
I use the term blind rather than the PC 'visually impaired' because many of us sighted people hear the term 'visually impaired' ('VI' to those in the know!!) and think instinctively of someone who 'can't see very well'. I use the term blind because this friend does not have any perception of light or dark, let alone image discernment; her vision is 100% impaired … plus some!!
I have learnt a huge amount from this friend, including that two of the most frequent misconceptions are:
- Guide dogs are not so well trained that you say, “Take me to the corner shop” and then just follow them. It is the owner, not the dog who learns the route; the function of the dog is to get their owner to the destination in one piece … most of the time!
- They are 'Guide Dogs' not 'Blind Dogs': it's the owners who are blind, not the dogs!
Surprised?
Isn't creativity a visually inspired thing?
Obviously not.
When I first discovered that my friend had no perception of light and dark, I was intrigued to find out what she 'saw' when she closed her eyes: Was it black? Was it white? Was there colour?
Her response made me take a step back … "No! There is just nothing!"
Yet, as we talked about colour and shade and clothes and house decorations I was staggered that she had the most amazing concept of colour and co-ordination. She could go into her wardrobe and pull out clothes that matched and then go to her jewellery and find an appropriate necklace and earrings. It didn't matter to me whether what I saw as green related to how my friend saw green. I was confronted with was a lady who, when she closed her eyes (or kept them open for that matter) could 'see nothing' yet could perceive in her mind colour matches and co-ordination to fine degrees of detail.
My friend could describe pictures she saw in her mind, musical pictures that were stimulated through conversation, sounds, taking a walk … many things. During discussions new light would be thrown on old problems simply because she was able to see things from a different perspective. And it was amazing how many times those ideas were the key that unlocked the door to new discoveries and new ways of doing things.
I was struck how differently we could see situations; metaphorically and physically (though she had a slight disadvantage!) and yet how synergistic these views often were. They weren't 'right' or 'wrong'; they complimented each other, rubbed against each other, challenged each other and in so doing released something new. One of the great things about creativity is that it can be sparked when we come face-to-face with people who see things very differently from us, in this case, quite literally! Some magic moments occur when my view is challenged or even destroyed by that of my friend. These are the times when connections are made between things that don’t naturally connect for me and true creativity is born.
I know that my perspective on life has been greatly enriched by knowing this friend. I hope that each of us can find something fresh from relationships that we have in business or our personal lives that may have become stale or contentious because of our very different views.
Perhaps if we see the potential rather than the problem we will all benefit.
Labels: blind, blindness, creative, creative sparks, creativity, creativity in blind people, improving productivity, improving relationships, lessons we can learn, opposites attract, relationships, visually impaired
Wednesday, 23 January 2008
Taking Personal Responsibility for Etiquette
As a follow-up to a recent post ... I was very interested to read an article just now on corporate e-mail etiquette and was left asking myself the question,
"Do we really think about what we're doing?"
I suspect the answer is probably 'No' in many cases as we try our hardest to either empty our inbox, or look for someone else to solve the problem. Neither of these intentions is bad unless we are the one who should be solving the problem. But is the e-mail inbox the only problem? I think not. Myopia (short-sightedness) is common in so many areas of our daily existence. We have often become pre-conditioned to respond in such a way through repeatedly acting that same way; sometimes acting before thinking. The result is that we often, inadvertently (or intentionally?) overload others.
Perhaps you, like me, are looking to make 2008 a year where those knee-jerk and pre-conditioned responses are identified, addressed and resolved. This is not an easy or pain-free course of action and will undoubtedly need to continue to be re-addressed. However, I am confident that the benefit of my actions will be much wider than just myself: the change in me and my attitudes will impact those around me.
So, instead of looking for some kind of 'policing' in situations like excessive e-mail, might it not be a good idea to address the problem at the root: the people who are sending them and bring about a change in attitude and awareness. Rather than being reactive to something that has already happened, wouldn't it be better to stop it from happening in the first place?
"Do we really think about what we're doing?"
I suspect the answer is probably 'No' in many cases as we try our hardest to either empty our inbox, or look for someone else to solve the problem. Neither of these intentions is bad unless we are the one who should be solving the problem. But is the e-mail inbox the only problem? I think not. Myopia (short-sightedness) is common in so many areas of our daily existence. We have often become pre-conditioned to respond in such a way through repeatedly acting that same way; sometimes acting before thinking. The result is that we often, inadvertently (or intentionally?) overload others.
Perhaps you, like me, are looking to make 2008 a year where those knee-jerk and pre-conditioned responses are identified, addressed and resolved. This is not an easy or pain-free course of action and will undoubtedly need to continue to be re-addressed. However, I am confident that the benefit of my actions will be much wider than just myself: the change in me and my attitudes will impact those around me.
So, instead of looking for some kind of 'policing' in situations like excessive e-mail, might it not be a good idea to address the problem at the root: the people who are sending them and bring about a change in attitude and awareness. Rather than being reactive to something that has already happened, wouldn't it be better to stop it from happening in the first place?
Labels: business, corporate etiquette, email, helping others, improving quality of life, life, reducing workload, responsibility
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