Proceed Until Apprehended

The Internet is such a firehose. The information comes fast. The marketing comes fast. The new ideas, the new products, the next thing… fast, fast, fast.

I find myself getting pretty frustrated with the skimming it induces. A full night of superficial snippets can leave me with a lot of trivia and nothing of substance. I find it more important than ever to make sure I pull away from the bells and whistles every once in a while and actually go deep, immersing myself in something that engages my brain.  Deliberately exploring a topic to a new level of understanding makes a lot more meaning for me than the skim.

In fact, if we were to collect all the things we hear and see each day and somehow conduct an audit to figure out what actually made it into our brain, we’d realize we can do without a lot of the barrage that occupies us.

So, why do we often choose to consume so much at a superficial level? I think it’s because choosing to actively ignore information that’s coming at you is like the problem with not buying a  lottery ticket. How can you possibly not buy a ticket? This may be THE ONE.  What if this ticket is the one that makes you rich? What if that next phone call is the President? What if the next big Internet sensation needs my investment immediately? What if a once in a lifetime announcement is just around the corner? All that hope, all those what-ifs… they cause a lot of attention to be directed to areas that rarely, if ever, have a payoff.

Here’s why some can do without lottery tickets: They get the math. They understand that one in 14,000,000 means you’ll typically spend $14,000,000 on tickets before you hit THE ONE. There’s an equivalent logic for understanding the information barrage, too. It may be less tangible, but intuitively, we know it’s there. If you step away from the constant flow and deliberately pursue and immerse yourself in what you want to see, you get more, you learn more. It’s more relevant. It’s more applicable to your life because you have selected, not received.

We’re now in a world where it’s easier for each of us to be our own program director. There’s unlimited information. It’s accessible at the click of a button. It comes on our time and on our terms.

It’s time to break an old habit – technology now allows you near complete control of the firehose. Don’t let others choose the messages for you.

The myth of epiphanies is that they strike you when you’re not expecting it.  You’re sitting in your bathtub and suddenly you shout “Eureka!” because you’ve realized that water displacement can measure volume.

Well, OK. I think that one actually did happen.

I don’t think that’s always the case.

Often, epiphanies come from a systematic effort to think about a problem differently. I propose that the key is actually that you open your mind to approach the problem from different angles. You have to deliberately steer your mind to make wander or make connections between seemingly unrelated concepts.

The reason epiphanies sometimes happen when you’re not trying to solve the problem is that we allow our minds out of the restrictions we were imposing on it. That doesn’t have to be by accident.

In 1990, Frank Lynn Meshberger, M.D., saw that Michelangelo’s “Creation of Adam” on the Sistine Chapel was actually a side profile of the human brain. The fact had been overlooked for centuries. I remeber hearing this back in the day, and it has always stuck with me. I find it pretty cool, not because of what Michelangelo did (it’s debated), but that Dr. Meshberger saw what so many others had not.

He had been in medical school at the time and happened to look at picture of the fresco shortly after dissecting and drawing a human brain – here’s the story.

That discovery, I would suggest, was a very happy coincidence (if you indeed believe Michelangelo was drawing a human brain). Regardless, this kind of a discovery offers a glimpse, into how we can synthesize and find solutions.  Sometimes, problem-solving comes when we add in lots of influences, not when we buckle down and “work the problem.”

If you’re stuck or things aren’t coming together, it might be time to pick up a book, look through the funny pages or listen to a symphony. You might need to invite in some other opinions, or draw the problem as a picture, or write a short story about it.

Putting in some extra hours at the office is likely counter-productive.

It appears I had a different sort of experience than many of my friends and colleagues through the Vancouver Olympics.

I enjoyed the competition, I definitely enjoyed the stories of triumph and tragedy, but I’m not left feeling I’m better off after I had this intense blitz of melodramatic reality broadcast to me.

I keep hearing that the Olympics are a treasured experience for my fellow Canadians. That the gold medal count, the hockey victory and the splendid performance of the City of Vancouver were a fantastic, even memorable experience for them.

I’m sitting here wondering how the Olympic viewing experience is anything more than a brief break from reality. Cynical, no?

Like many of us, I’ve given in to the allure of a large bag of  potato chips in just one sitting, or a second bowl of ice cream when one would suffice. I’ve honked my horn or shook an angry fist at a fellow driver and I’ve said something hurtful to a friend so that I’d feel better. All of these actions share a common thread – they offer a respite from my own hurt or sadness. They give reprieve, just for a moment.

After each of these events, I think you’re quite likely going to experience a hard landing back to reality. Those reprieves don’t last forever, and when they end, you’re actually a step back from where you started.

I’m trying not to make a negative post here, and I know I’m failing. I’m trying to say that “vacations” from reality don’t help us, they momentarily sidetrack us. They trick us into sitting on the couch for two weeks or gaining weight instead of losing. They withdraw deposits from the emotional bank account or they coax us into engaging with a road-rager in a no-win situation.

One of the things I’m personally working on is not wasting time in front of the TV. If I am in front of it, it’s programming I’ve carefully selected with the commercials removed.

My clear-headed, relentless pursuit of this objective was sidetracked by the Olympics. I sat in front of the TV indiscriminately. I didn’t know what was coming next. There was lots of interesting stuff, but I also watched uninteresting, unfulfilling blather and watched more commercials in that two week period than I do in an entire year. Those two weeks of excessive couch potato-ing were a backslide.

Damn you, Olympics and your heartwarming stories.

In the 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, Dr. Stephen Covey illustrates the role of a leader with the Jungle Analogy.  He talks about a group, an organization, committed to swathing a path through the jungle.  In this organization, he identifies three roles – the machete-wielding worker, the manager and the leader.

While the worker is cutting down the undergrowth, the manager is behind the action making sure the worker is well supported – sharpening machetes, providing training, nutrition, strength building, you could even imagine this manager providing supportive words of encouragement… “Great slash! A couple more like that and you’ll be up for hacker of the year!”

The leader is perched atop a tall tree ensuring direction, and if necessary, yelling “Wrong jungle!”

The lesson Dr. Covey is conveying is about the importance of having someone that is at the highest of high levels thinking about purpose and direction. Another great example he uses is talking about climbing a ladder and the importance of having the ladder up against the correct wall. I’m in wholehearted agreement with the sentiment.

I really like this jungle analogy. When I talk about it, I always attribute more lessons to it than Dr. Covey did. I think this analogy is fantastic for helping us understand our organizations. It simplifies the playing field and allows for a very direct examination and discussion about roles in the workplace.

Here’s my addition to the analogy. I think the Manager feels tremendously inadequate in their role. They’re on the field. They’re in a position to assess and actually provide criticism on the actions of others, however they don’t cut. They don’t participate in the direct purpose of the organization. Seen from the perspective of a hotshot machete worker, they’re a gofer. A waterboy.

For managers, that can weigh heavy, especially since most of them used to be hotshot machete workers. I think these managers have a tremendous internal pressure to pick up a machete and impressively lead the way. Especially consider when one of their machete workers pleadingly looks back at them. “This is a very difficult patch,” they say. What manager could resist the opportunity to show their skill at getting the job done? It’s a moment that allows them to be a hero, is it not?

The moment a manager puts down their clipboard and starts hacking, the organization is gravely injured. When a manager takes on that role on the front lines, all other machete workers are without support. It’s so simple to see in the analogy, so seemingly difficult to see in the office. In the manager’s (selfish) effort to show their ability and see immediate progress, they reduce the capability of everyone else. I’m not sure that’s even the worse part, though. They also teach one machete wielder a very unhelpful lesson – if you find yourself in a challenging spot, look backwards. Rather than taking the time to figure it out, you can count on someone else to do the really hard stuff.

If a manager does their very difficult, emotionally demanding job of not jumping in, they build capability of staff.  They build a more sustainable and healthy organization.

Here’s the assignment. Don’t look for validation through the social mirror, look for it in your own principles. The majority of your colleagues likely won’t be with you, but that’s not the objective. You’re looking for personal satisfaction for a job effectively done. For what it’s worth, I will also be celebrating your courageous choice.

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.

Look around. Are you on a conveyor belt?

I’ve been in a number of meetings where each plan and action coming out of the mouths of my colleagues is faultless. Despite this fact, I’m left with a feeling that we’re going backwards. What is it?

I think it’s that they’re on a conveyor belt. It’s going south, we’re trying to go north. We can agree on the direction, we can even agree on the destination, but in that very moment, the discussion about footsteps (the tactical), not the route (strategic choices we’re making). For most people, most days, the essential component is to put in the right directional effort. The results are secondary. As a result, there’s plenty of faultless effort, but minimal ground is gained. We need to do a better job of acknowledging that we’re on a shifting foundation.

Step one: Stop. Look around you. Are you on solid ground? Are you doing the right things or are you just doing things right?

Step two: Communicate your (new) reality to others. It’s your obligation. I say ”obligation” because it may not be pleasant. You will likely get chastised because your comments will be counter-productive to the immediate conveyor belt march. Your colleagues are trying to keep up and you’re a distraction. That’s to be expected. Just be ready.

Step three: Be very observant and engage with those that give you sidelong glances and pleading looks. They want to get off, too. They just need some help in the courage department.

My most political revelation ever: I’m a populist

OK, I’m not sure I’m a traditional populist, but I’m expropriating the word and it’s basic definition to describe what I believe.

In truth, I don’t want to have the discussion about the systems that govern my province or country. I think they’re broken. Addressing them is for another blog, one I’m not sure I’ll ever write.

When I say “populist,” I don’t mean in a political arena. I mean in relationships. I mean in how we trust and respect the people around us.

Populist means to trust the wisdom and judgement of the people. It implies also that we’re going to be wary and distrustful of the elite, the ones who profess to have the answers and directions already laid out for us. In a political setting, a populist is saying “remove the government and let the people directly have a stronger voice.” It’s a little more organized than anarchy, but it’s in that direction.