Why we should stand on desks more often - Literally

The following is the original and the rewrite can be found by clicking here.

A while back I was in a meeting where the discussion revolved around our need to change our current situation to a future state that we all agreed was needed - Somewhere in all of this banter, I say something along these lines, "Evolution will get us there but it will take time where with a revolution we will get there much faster, but it tends to be bloodier".

 I of course thought it was particularly profound. Now let me say right up front we are talking business here so people very rarely get bloody and die (this is an important point) and as an aside (apologizing for my diatribe up front), we as business people like to draw from the military for strategic framework, aspects of leadership, transferable tactics and particularly language. Here is a very important point... in business, although it may sometimes have a vague feel of what war is all about, no one dies, I shall repeat again, no one dies. If you "take a bullet", in the broad sense of things you get "a do over". War, not so much.

So back to my profound statement (with a working assumption that you agree with me*), we find ourselves always existing in three states, some more preferable than others - The status quo, evolution or revolution. I will eventually get to the desk... so not to worry.

Let me quickly speak to the state of status quo first; briefly, only briefly... other than an opportunity to catch your breath (mostly in a figurative sense), the status quo offers you nothing long term... the world, and everything about it will change around you and you will become irrelevant** - I do not recommend it as the world will pass you by.

Revolution will drive dramatic change, through a spectrum from great to awful, as well as the opportunity associated with it. Here is the thing though, like war, it can take on a life of it's own, it's uncontrollable, noisy and many times random with what it offers. Sometimes it is necessary but hold on tight...very tight. As an aside this is where control is validated as an "illusion".

So now to evolution, and being that I left it to the last it's a fair assumption that it is something that I want to spend some time on... offering a thought or two. Up front I will say I'm a fan of Darwin and his theories of adapting and evolving to an ever changing environment - We need to evolve to thrive. A point though, it needs to move much faster than it historically has to prevent any slide into the status quo or creating a situation that brings on the need for revolution, be it in business or even socially. Why is that you may ask? The world is moving much faster, be it technology advances, communication or general globalization (that makes this big world a much smaller place) that creates a necessity to speed up evolution just to keep up with the environment.

And finally we get to the desk - Sorry about meandering... well not really that much. In the movie Dead Poets Society there is a scene where the teacher (Robin Williams) jumps up on his desk to make a point... I have attached the video, as it is my favorite scene in this great coming of age movie.

The video clip is packed with a number of messages but for me, in the context of what we are talking about, when he stands on his desk and asks "why", he offers hints as to how to speed up the evolution. The answer is of course, "to look at things differently and get a new perspective", as the acceleration comes through actively looking to evolve and not passively letting it happen over time.

Two other points resonate with me. When John Keating says, "if you know something, look at it a different way", it reminds us to keep challenging what we know as we just might start seeing a different and even better way. I also like when he tells a student not to walk off the edge of the table so fast like a lemming but look around - A reminder that thinking and doing things differently is not an occasional effort but should be a habitual way.

I find Keating actually getting up on the desk the most powerful in all of this, as it is the action in changing his perspective. He didn't talk about getting up on the desk, he got up on it, no talk... just "up". And this is how art in this case can challenge us... Asking what exactly are we doing to see things differently and speed up our evolution?

Thank you for reading. 

gpe

* Let me know if you don't

**Irrelevant is such a harsh word that means not connected with or relevant to something, but is what happens when you stand still as everything moves on. It's a great business word. 

Graduating Corporate University — Why I blog

Prelude — On October 29, 2014 I wrote my very first blog entitled Graduating Corporate University. What follows is not that blog but a re-write as I wish I had written it. Don't get me wrong, I am not rewriting the spirit or intent of what I had written two and a half years ago, but rather cleaning up some of the sentence structure, spelling, typos and all those little mistakes that come with something you are starting for the first time...

If you were to ask me how I feel right now I would say I feel like I just graduated university — Let me explain.

My very exciting and very fulfilling corporate career of 22 years has come to an end as the result of a large merger and/or acquisition, and when that kind of event occurs the question becomes what is a person to do after all those meetings, all those projects, and all those presentations... all that "corporate learning" if you will.

Travel of course, and figure out what to do with one's life. 

And that is what I did... as well as exercised, ate better, reconnected with friends, and made new ones; I also attempted the art of mindfulness which I will admit is very much a work in progress. I should mention it is true what they say about taking a six month personal sabbatical — Take it if you can because it rejuvenates the body, mind and soul. 

Now I find myself all educated, all rested, and have the whole world in front of me. What next... back into corporate? "Wait, wait.... WAIT! Let's think about that for a minute". 

Connect all 9 dots using four straight lines, without lifting your pen and without tracing the same line more than once. As you can see, "out of the box thinking"

One of the aspects about having a long "corporate education" is it does afford you some luxuries to evaluate the situation and determine what you REALLY want to do — It also offers a much different perspective as figure out what exactly that is. What I mean by that is when you are 24, right out of university with an eye on marrying the love of your life, it's fair to say the drivers are a little different than after you've graduated with a degree from "Corporate U". 

My skills and competencies are in sales and marketing leadership, management, operations and project management — I'm very much a sales and marketing guy (for better or for worse). As I objectively looked at myself and what I wanted to do I found myself looking at all my skills, my achievements and aligning them with some sort of job. Ultimately each time I did this it just came across flat because I just kept thinking, "Is this the best way to use my Corporate U education and take advantage of this wonderful opportunity in front of me". 

Then one day I took a different tack and asked myself, "What did I enjoy most in my 22 years? Was there a passion that simply gave me energy and true enjoyment... something where I was not working but simply having a wonderful time?"  

And with that my business passion simply appeared — Creative Problem Solving... and not just the thrill of solving a problem (the harder the better), why sometimes we just can't figure it out, and how do we go about "thinking out of the box"? Conceptional to practical, I loved it all. There it was, follow a PASSION of creative problem solving and align it to sales and marketing (which unto itself can be an addictive adrenaline rush). 

But in a practical sense what does it mean?

Well right now I want to understand it, talk about it, get other people's thoughts regarding how it works, and why it doesn't works. And like most PASSIONS, I am just going to follow it and see where it takes me.

As a final note, I will tell you I bite my tongue a little every time I say "out of the box thinking" as it just seems to be so trite and conjures up visions of a rather angry leader pounding on the table saying, "This is unacceptable people! We need some out of the box thinking here!" 

By the way did you know the term was derived from a puzzle that consisted of 9 dots and 4 consecutive straight lines back in the early 80's? All you have to do is connect all 9 dots using four straight lines without lifting your pen and without tracing the same line more than once. As you can see, "out of the box thinking".

Who knew?

Postlude — I have found myself rewriting many of my blogs to repost, use for the reasons, consolidate my thoughts, or simply to become better at writing and communicating. 

It is humbling to say the least when you look back at something you have written and realize that if not for all those typos, meandering sentences, poor grammar, and non sequiturs, it would be a really good blog post. In turn, it is also exciting to recognize that there is a need to improve what I have written in the past, and that more often than not when I am finished the rewrite it is better than the original. 

There is no doubt I blog as part of a professional agenda but the other reason (and really the most important) is blogging is a tangible symbol of development, expression of thought, and the desire to grow into something bigger than I am today.

So I shall continue to blog.

iamgpe