“…. cultural leadership is distinct from political and administrative leadership. While political leaders primarily make rules and administrative leaders primarily enforce rules, cultural leaders like Gandhi, Martin Luther King, and Mother Theresa find principled and imaginative ways to transgress those rules that inhibit the emergence of cultural sovereignty and creativity.
Transformation
The advantages of growing old
A legend tells of a man who used to carry water every day to his village, using two large pitchers tied on either end of a piece of wood, which he placed across his shoulders.
One of the pitchers was older than the other and was full of small cracks; every time the man came back along the path to his house, half of the water was lost.
For two years, the man made the same journey. The younger pitcher was always very proud of the way it did its work and was sure that it was up to the task for which it had been created, while the other pitcher was mortally ashamed that it could carry out only half its task, even though it knew that the cracks were the result of long years of work.
So ashamed was the old pitcher that, one day, while the man was preparing to fill it up with water from the well, it decided to speak to him.
“I wish to apologize because, due to my age, you only manage to take home half the water you fill me with, and thus quench only half the thirst awaiting you in your house.”
The man smiled and said: “When we go back, be sure to take a careful look at the path.” The pitcher did as the man asked and noticed many flowers and plants growing along one side of the path.
“Do you see how much more beautiful nature is on your side of the road?” the man remarked.
“I knew you had cracks, but I decided to take advantage of them. I sowed vegetables and flowers there, and you always watered them. I’ve picked dozens of roses to decorate my house, and my children have had lettuce, cabbage and onions to eat. If you were not the way you are, I could never have done this. We all, at some point, grow old and acquire other qualities, and these can always be turned to good advantage.”
– Paul Coelho
Is it time to step back, and, take a long view of life and reevaluate priorities ?
In high school, I had read a story by H. G. Wells about a child who wanders down an unfamiliar street and spots a door in a plain white masonry wall. He opens it and discovers a garden where everything is welcoming and full of peace – a place where he belongs. The next day he tries to go back, but the door has disappeared. Continue reading
Back end or Heart of House?
Writer William Gibson once famously said that the ‘The future is already here—it’s just not very evenly distributed.’ I worry more that the past is here—it’s just so evenly distributed that we can’t get to the future.
— Paul Kedrosky
A few years ago, we facilitated an event with a group of luxury car dealers in a Four Seasons hotel. They were all the owners or General Managers of the dealerships: wealthy, shrewd businesspeople with a track record of success going back a decade or more. They had come to the event to learn from other luxury and service businesses. They were exposed to world-class stimuli over the two days: leading-edge technology retailing, high-end customer service, the latest and greatest in travel and hospitality. And yet one of the most illuminating conversations came after a visit to the laundry.
Continue reading
Changing the nature of conversation : “ We can if ” rather than “ We can’t because ”
Kelly couldn’t change the nature of the organization, but he could change the nature of the conversation, particularly the beginning of each sentence in the problem- solving process. He didn’t let people start with “We can’t because.” He forced them to start with “We can if.” So, for example, instead of saying “We can’t use that type of new packaging because it will slow the line down,” the person would be forced to say “We can use that kind of new packaging if we run it on someone else’s line.” The flow is maintained, and the group moves on to the next question in the chain (in this case, how to find the right line).
As Kelly notes, “can’t because” is an understandable reaction to a difficult challenge. People are used to putting up their hands to solve a problem they know how to solve; what is much harder, and more unusual, is putting up their hands to solve a problem they don’t know how to solve. And yet that is precisely what is required in constraint-driven problem solving. Without a positive construct to guide the team, the inability to have a ready answer to a difficult question kills the momentum and the flow of exploration. Continue reading
Thought for the Week – 9th February 2015
Book Recommendation – The Quarter-Life Breakthrough
The book made me feel that there’s hope in finding meaningful work even if you feel stuck knowing you need to make a change in your life but you are too afraid to take the leap and that it is possible to spend your days doing something that not only inspires you but also makes an impact in the lives of others.
When I read Adam’s book , I learned that:
Intentional Experimentation is not a waste of time when it’s done with the purpose of getting closer to your true self.
We grow by the questions we ask ourselves like: What contributions do I want to make to the world?
There’s no more linear career path, only a breakthrough career mindset where you figure out your next steps as you go aligning your actions with your purpose and surrounding yourself with people holding you accountable to your goals.
No matter how bad things get, there are always people willing to help out if we have the courage to ask
Meaningful work it’s all about doing work that reflects your interests and allows you to share your gifts to help others living in alignment with your purpose surrounded by supportive communities.
Life is a never ending journey but the time for intentional learning, experimentation, and action is now.
If you feel stuck knowing you need to make a change but are afraid to take the leap, then you should read this book. It will give you the hope and much needed courage to start living your life through intentional experimentation.
Why 30 is not the new 20
Innovation is born from the interaction between constraint and vision
Constraints can actually speed development. For instance, we often can get a sense of just how good a new concept is if we only prototype for a single day or week. Or we’ll keep team size to three people or fewer. By limiting how long we work on something or how many people work on it, we limit our investment. In the case of the Toolbar beta, several key features (custom buttons, shared bookmarks) were tried out in under a week. In fact, during the brainstorming phase, we came up with about five times as many “key features.” Most were discarded after a week of prototyping. Since only 1 in every 5 to 10 ideas works out, the strategy of limiting the time we have to prove that an idea works allows us to try out more ideas, increasing our odds of success. Continue reading
ONE TUSK 