Proceed Until Apprehended

I’ve been a sellout many times in my life. For definition, let’s say that sellouts are when you apply your ability and talent to something that isn’t for your purpose in life, it’s for somebody else’s. The theory of the sellout is that they happen because selling out is practical, it’s prudent and it seems like a good, secure, long-term choice. However, they’re called sellouts because they go against your very fibre. You give up (sell) a piece of your soul for comfort. You pursue someone else’s interest in return for compensation.

I’d like to take a look at some of my sellouts, in the order that they have happened:

* I trusted the educational system with too much of my maturation and development of knowledge and pursued all manner of academic success in highschool. I devoted excessive time that could have been spent pursuing my own interests to learning how to differentiate between chemical oxidation and reduction, a sonnet and iambic pentameter and a circle’s radius versus its diameter.
* I chose to take Commerce (business school) in University, not because of some overwhelming passion for business, but because it was the path to secure, well-paid employment.
* I accepted positions of employment because of title and pay, not because of my personal affinity for the topic.
* I engaged, interacted and gave respect to undeserving individuals who held influence. I shared ideas not for innovation and effectiveness, but to impress.

A couple of weak defenses of my actions might help me feel better here. First is the fact that this is what I was advised to do. I followed the path that was laid out for me. That’s weak, because I was sentient when all these sellouts took place. I always had a choice… I just didn’t acknowledge it. My second defense – I could have done more selling out, or I could have done it for an entire career. I think it could easily be argued that I continue to sell out, but I’m happy to say I’ve recognized it and am taking steps to repair the damage.

The damage, however, is quite interesting and hard to repair. To start with, sellouts aren’t exactly natural, so they’re hard to sustain. When we’re doing something contrary to our being routinely each day, we’re ultimately stealing days we won’t get back that could be happier. That’s a hard pill to swallow.

There’s the damage of how being a sellout seems to tie our hands, too. It comes in the shape of established levels of comfort and expectation that are extremely hard to dismiss. They come in the form of a mortgage that was accepted in headier times and a lifestyle best described as a hedonic treadmill.

The damage is a reluctance to try new things, to depart from this game’s “winning strategy” even as the rules of the game are changing.

The damage is a fear of the actions that could address our mistakes but haven’t received acceptance from family, parents, peers, friends, teachers or bosses.

The damage is the fear of ending up living in a van down by the river.

All that is strong, but it doesn’t quite overpower the knowledge that there are ways to add value and be true to your passion. Even when all the comforts of being a sellout are calling me to stop, relax and be enveloped in their charms, I can’t help but remember that those sellout actions aren’t my agenda. They’re just the choices I’ve made.

I guess I’m saying that the one thing more powerful than all the comforts of the life of the sellout is the peace that comes with pursuing my own agenda.

Where does innovation come from? I think we’ve all been in a few meetings where “youth” is the answer. If you’re like me, you’ve also heard “new employees,” regardless of age. I don’t think I’ve yet heard “those close to retirement,” but it wouldn’t surprise me.

To be honest, I always kind of dread these discussions. It’s not that I don’t want to be part of a discussion about innovation; it’s that the perception of where innovation comes from feels quite tired and unexamined.

I want to take a peek at the source of innovation, the person. I do think a lot of innovation can come from youth. A different education, a constant immersion in a media-rich environment and a fresh introduction to the workplace is bound to give this cohort a number of “why is it done this way?” kind of moments.

Likewise, new public service employees enter an organization either with the “youth” lens or with the lens of someone who has been working in a different kind of structure. They may simply bring different approaches, or they may have that same sort of questioning “why?” moment.

Both of these groups bring something valuable to the table – a different perspective. They offer a shock to our current thinking. They haven’t been indoctrinated into the rules, structures and dogma that govern the way we do our jobs.

I don’t think, however, that innovative ideas come from a certain age or a certain set of experiences. Primarily, I think new ideas come from your worldview. Worldview is a nice all-encompassing word to describe how you see the world. It’s your description of reality. Perhaps another way to say it is that our worldview is the collection of conclusions we bring with us based on what we’ve seen.

As you can imagine, everyone’s worldview is different. You can be trusting or less trusting, more open to risk or less. You can believe in the power of a god and you can believe in the power of the state. You can think that social media is the end of community or a new beginning. When somebody believes in grassroots organization and somebody else believes in corporate benevolence, those different worldviews bring different/new/innovative solutions to addressing public issues. These differences create distinct approaches and different solutions to challenges.

The nature of most organizations is to build consistency and uniformity into everything, including how we think. The organization works hard to keep everything static and in control. Maybe you’re still having innovative ideas, but the typical response and reaction within the walls of the organization to new thinking makes it difficult to express those ideas (and continue expressing them).

What youth and new employees can bring is a distinct worldview that hasn’t yet been critically transformed. Eventually, most employees resolve themselves to a worldview that includes something like, “At work, it’s easier to follow the rules than to examine them.” Until that defeatist language is added to the worldview, some profound things are liable to slip out.

Accessing individuals who see a different reality and believe that change is attainable are key elements of innovation for me. Right now, the “low hanging fruit” are the individuals that readily bring that kind of thinking. It’s a mistake, however, to attribute that kind of thinking to a demographic cohort or a certain experience. We’re missing all the worldviews that are quietly being suppressed.

I was talking to a friend the other day and she said, “I came to government with a set of skills, abilities and passions, and none of them get used.”

Innovative ideas are there. We’re just not asking for them.

This post is actually number 102. I’m kinda proud of hitting the century mark. When I started blogging, I didn’t know how transformative this experience would be.

Because of this blog,

• I’m connecting with interesting, smart and engaged people
• I feel much more confident that my opinions have merit. I’m also confident I need to keep asking if they have merit.
• My articulation of my opinions and beliefs in the off-line world has improved – I think I’m a better writer and speaker from doing this.
• My blog provides a search-able repository of things I’ve felt strongly enough about to write down. I’m pretty sure I search my archives more than everyone else combined.
• I’m more outspoken and am being a radical truth-teller more consistently each day.

I’ve also found:

• There’s been lulls in my blogging when I feel like I just can’t do it as good as others
• There’s been increases in my blogging when I’m reading a good book.
• My best posts are written in one sitting.
• My blogging is most consistent when I remind myself that my thoughts are more helpful out than in.

Thanks for joining me. I really do appreciate it.

This is a shift that’s been going on for a while, but it’s time I call it out on my blog. You can be nice, do generous things for others and you can operate with an abundance mentality and you get more in return than ever before. I watched Conan O’Brien’s farewell speech on the Tonight Show. I was impressed, and I think he will be rewarded handsomely in the future for his authentic class and heartfelt honesty. I think there’s a few things going on that make this a new game for the Nice:

• It’s easier than ever to see and celebrate good things done by individuals
• It no longer requires large investments or big distribution to connect with individuals
• Those who want to protect the status quo have little to no control when you choose a different, more individual path
• These paths allow people to be authentic and, surprise surprise, when not going through bureaucratic filter, most people are nice

All of this is resulting in people that just get to be themselves and still create a following. Conan now has a legion of fans that will give him attention, credibility and yes, money. He won’t need a big network. If he just starts doing something, people can connect directly.

I want to follow and connect with people that are open, selfless and giving. The old system used to squeeze that out and more often than not produce closed and selfish. Now that this option is reality, it’s clear I wasn’t alone in my desire. Examples abound of success through giving. Just check my blogroll.

With a hat tip to Dan McCarthy, here’s a transcript of Conan’s speech:

“Before we bring this rodeo to a close, I think a couple things should be said.
There’s been a lot of speculation in the press about what I legally can and can’t say about NBC.
And this isn’t a joke.
To set the record straight, and this is true, tonight I’m allowed to say anything I want.
(Man laughs)
Um, and no it’s not a joke, but thanks sir. Tonight I really am allowed to say whatever I want and what I want to say is this.
Between my time at “Saturday Night Live,” “The Late Night Show,” and my brief run here on “The Tonight Show,” I’ve worked with NBC for over 20 years.
Yes, we have our differences right now, yes we’re going our separate ways, but this company has been my home for most of my adult life.
I am enormously proud of the work we’ve done together. And I want to thank NBC for making it all possible.
I really do.
(Audience applauds)
A lot of people have been asking me about my state of mind and I’ll be honest with you, walking away from “The Tonight Show” is the hardest thing I have ever had to do.
Um, making this choice has been enormously difficult. This is the best job in the world.
I absolutely love doing it and I have the best staff and crew in the history of the medium.
I will fight anybody who says I don’t, but no one would.
But despite this sense of loss, I really feel this should be a happy moment. Every comedian…every comedian dreams of hosting “The Tonight Show” and for seven months, I got to do it.
And I did it my way with people I love. I do not regret one second of anything that we’ve done here.
(Audience applause)
And yeah.
And I encounter people when I walk on the street now who are just uh who give me sort of a sad look.
I have had more fortune than anybody I know.
And if our next gig is doing a show in a 7-Eleven Parking lot we will find a way to make it fine. We really will.
I have no problems. And, I don’t want to do it on a 7-Eleven parking lot.
(Audience laughs)
But whatever, uh, finally I have something to say to our fans.
This massive outpouring of support and passion from so many people has been overwhelming for me.
The rallies, the signs, all the goofy outrageous creativity on the Internet uh, the fact that people have traveled long distances and camped out all night in the pouring rain.
(Audience cheers)
It’s pouring! It’s been pouring for days and they’re camping out to be in our audience.
Really, you…Here’s what all of you have done.
You’ve made a sad situation joyous and inspirational.
So to all the people watching I can never ever thank you enough for the kindness to me and I’ll think about it for the rest of my life.
And all I ask is one thing…and this is…I’m asking this particularly of young people that watch…please do not be cynical.
I hate cynicism. For the record, it’s my least favorite quality.
It doesn’t lead anywhere.
Nobody in life gets exactly what they thought they were going to get.
But if you work really hard and you’re kind, amazing things will happen. I’m telling you. Amazing things will happen. (Audience claps) I’m telling you.
It’s just true.
As proof, let’s make something amazing happen right now. (Intro Will Ferrell)

Why do I want change so bad? Is it just for the sake of something different?

I don’t think that’s it.

I think I observe a lot of change around me and I feel like I’m living in a world that’s out of sync. Perhaps I shouldn’t say I want change. I certainly don’t want it just for it’s own sake. I want t0 put my energy into things that are adequately in tune with the reality of the situation. I could actually be pretty content without change if things were static. Hey, I like quiet, serene and unchallenging environments more than most. The world is not static, however, and it’s clearly not going to be static. I want change only because it’s the best strategy to deal with reality. I want responsiveness.

I have a little analogy to throw at you. Have you ever been caught wearing your parka on the day spring weather arrives? Worse yet, you’re wearing a light fall coat the day winter blows in. It’s actually a pretty crummy day until you can adjust. If you’ve got a few hours before you get home to your warm coat, it totally monopolizes your day. I feel like that about the things I want to change. The discomfort makes for a lingering dissonance you can’t shake. Let’s adjust to the new order. We’d all be more comfortable.

The new reality is that we’re in an age of participation. It’s easy for everyone to have a voice and to engage with the things they care about. This rule of engagement now just resides there. It’s not up for debate. Somebody else’s change made that happen. The internet, Google, social media, the end of a Baby Boomer labour era, reality has changed. I’m going to accept this reality and adjust accordingly, but I really dislike this “get it” and “don’t get it” divide. I want my face-to-face community members to join me, yet I feel the distance growing.

I can refer you to a long line of people that will tell you I’m being unreasonable. In my defense, I don’t think I’m pushing for something because it’s shiny or exciting. I just want equilibrium. To create that balance one side has to catch up…  or it’s going to be replaced.

I played rugby for a couple years in university. It was a great experience and I look back on the friendships and the competition with great fondness.

The social aspects of rugby can really suck a university-age guy in, but I also fell in love with the sport. It looks like a battle of brutish violence, but there’s much more to it. There’s a lot of nuance and complexity to the game. There’s strategies and techniques that compel entire nations to be gripped by the sport.

One of the things I really like about it is how it requires so many different skills and strengths. Young or old, fast or slow, slight or stocky, there’s a role for you.

As a rugby newbie, I think my path was pretty typical. All of the complexity escaped me. I couldn’t read plays, I wasn’t in position and I exerted tons of energy. In that moment, I was giving it my all. In retrospect, I was sure working hard, but I wasn’t being very effective. As time wore on and I gained experience and started to see the patterns of the game. I transitioned from blind exertion to a more targeted effort that created greater results.

It’s a pretty good analogy for choices we get to make in life, of course. We can blindly exert our energy or we can play with our heads up.

In rugby and in life, it’s easy to attain the feeling that you’re making tremendous strides. I mean, you’re sweating so much, right? It’s maybe a little easier in rugby, though, to see what actually puts points on the board.

I recommend you watch The Matrix again. I just watched it for the first time in years, and I CAN’T BELIEVE how simply and accurately The Matrix serves as a metaphor for the world we live in, the conventions we ascribe to and the blissful ignorance we live with each day… except for when it’s not blissful. If it wasn’t for the Hollywood-style violence, I’d say this movie is as important to school curriculum as the classics of English class. It probably is anyway.

I went and found a good description of the metaphor between the Matrix and our life. As the article suggests, The Matrix offers us the ability to examine our world with exceptional clarity.

This got me thinking, though. I saw all of this ten years ago. I think I “got it” then. At that time, why did I go back to my job on Monday and keep working in my own Matrix? Or, the real mind-bender, how different is it this time?

Before Neo becomes Neo, he’s Thomas Anderson. Don’t you think Thomas Anderson got to go to a movie on a Friday night and watch something like The Matrix? Did he step out into the cool evening air and realize he was inside an artificial construct? Apparently not. The human mind doesn’t seem to have that kind of sudden-insight capacity. It wasn’t until he took a red pill from Morpheus and physically got some distance that he understood the limitations of what he was thinking and seeing.

So, as I see this movie for the second time, I think I have some physical distance from my artificial construct, and I’m trying to get more. The first time I saw this movie, it was sort of a description of what was going on, while I was in it. I was like an early Neo, hearing the whisper of “Matrix” in the corners of a dark room. There was a more fulsome theory of what was real and what was artificial that needed to be poked and prodded, but I couldn’t see it. As Morpheus says, “Unfortunatley, no one can be told what the Matrix is. You have to see it for yourself.”

Fast forward ten years, I’ve made some pretty significant leaps outside the conventional lines of my Matrix. I’ve chosen in places not to follow the rules of social expectation. I’ve shed some of the consumer/recipient role. I’m no longer a dispassionate observer saying, “wow, what if that were real?” I’m a participant, receiving motivation and inspiration that I’m not alone in believing our current world isn’t the way it’s supposed to be, or has to be.

If my quasi-rambling post isn’t making sense, let me put something on the record. I don’t think machines are putting artificial constructs in my mind. I think the systems and conventions we’ve built up over generations are.

The movie also reminds me that I chose the red pill. I have an obligation to do something with what I’ve seen and learned.

Morpheus: “Neo, sooner or later you’re going to realize, just as I did, that there’s a difference between knowing the path and walking the path.”

I just listened to Seth Godin speaking with Nora Young on the CBC radio program Spark.

Best. Interview. Ever.

I think what happened is Seth dialed down his usual brilliance for his audience, just a little bit. I’ve never heard him so accessible. He used language that explains a new internet economy to people that haven’t really gotten the bug. He also demonstrated a focus I haven’t heard from him, one that’s about bridging the growing divide between people and organizations that are running away with the new economy and people and organizations that aren’t even participating.

My favourite bits from Seth:

“…I’m seeing more and more is this growing divide. And the people who are on the losing side don’t understand what happened. It’s one thing to play a game and lose. It’s another thing to lose without realizing that you’re playing a game. And I want to call that out…”

“we were brainwashed through 10 or 20 years of school to do what we’re told, to fit in instead of stand out, to have a resume that looks like everybody else’s resume, to get a job like everybody else’s job, and to put in our time and then we’ll get rewarded. And the sad truth is, the reward isn’t coming.”

“… people who work with ideas and with people, also have the ability to do something scarce, if we choose to. But a lot of us got lazy and said, “OK, we’ll take the high pay, we’ll take the nice working conditions, but no, I don’t want to put myself on the line.” And for a long time there was enough productivity out there that we could pull that off.

But now that’s going away, and so when the boss is trimming the number of people who work there, or when they’re deciding who to hire, guess who gets to keep the job? It’s the person who did the hard work, which was scarce, not the person who merely followed the manual, which wasn’t.”

“It turns out that the knee jerk answer, which is, “My boss needs to fix this,” isn’t going to happen. Because the minute you say, “I want to do something creative but my boss won’t let me,” what you’re really saying is, “I want my boss to take responsibility if I fail, but I want to get the credit if I succeed.”

Do you think there’s a business model that allows me to post Seth Godin quotes all day?

By the way, he’s on the circuit promoting a new, free e-book that you should check out, What Matters Now.

This has been a year of tremendous personal growth for me.  A real highlight was my discovery that I had things I wanted to say and a desire to be a part of a conversation about what’s next. Not just part of the conversation, actually, but I realized I wanted to be a participant in making the future.

This may not seem like much, especially with the ubiquity of blogging and other social media tools. Everybody has a voice and can use it. I had to make my own personal journey to determine that I was going to step beyond “lurking.” To my great surprise, you and other readers have been willing to bless me with your attention, your insight and your passion.

Wow. Just wow.

I hope you enjoy the holiday season. I can’t wait to do more of this.

Hungry People gave me an early Christmas gift. They interviewed me and put it up for their audience to see. It’s kinda neat, getting a little attention. I’d much rather have a conversation with someone than just yell into the town square.

By the way, I see big things coming for Hungry People. They are creating conversations and content that’s worth reading. Chief Storytelling Officer Jay Jaboneta is proving that this game can be had with a plan and a work ethic.