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What’s Next: July’s Theme Is Reflection

by on June 28, 2007 in Creative

I’m back from my own experiment with retreat and reflection, spending some time with my gals and extended family at a beach house without television and computer. Lately, the television hasn’t been that prevalent in my daily life; though, I must admit that if it is on it’s usually tuned to a baseball game. On the other hand, the computer tends to be an interesting presence in my life. It serves as a portal to the wider world and creative catalyst through my blogging ventures. It also seduces me toward more frivolous websurfing activities (rather like channel surfing and getting caught up in a stupid movie that I regret watching later). It’s that lack of intention that leaves me with an empty feeling. One remedy is to introduce or re-introduce retreat and reflection into life.

I’m going to try something new here…I’m going to incorporate a monthly theme into the WorkPlay blog. While other folks have done it with great success, this will be my first foray into this type of writing. So, July will focus on ideas of reflection: uses in our lives, but perhaps more importantly, uses in our work. Let’s see where it goes and what we can learn. See you soon.

The Benefits Of Competition?

by on June 17, 2007 in Creative

Bernie DeKoven at DeepFun.com asks, Must we compete? Perhaps a better question is, When should we compete? I don’t see competition as an all-out negative compared to cooperation. That would ignore the benefits of competition. One way to compete is with ourselves as a way to improve our skills and experience.

Don’t throw the baby out with the bathwater. Just because folks can take competition to the extreme doesn’t mean it’s a negative. Competition can teach just as well as cooperation. We need to be well-rounded and that means knowing when to compete with ourself and others and then when to cooperate.

The Creative Heat In The East

by on April 22, 2007 in Creative

I’m a sucker for good visual data and the map generated by Kevin Stolarick at the Richard Florida Creativity Group is particularly interesting. Using data on where the creative class lives, county by county, he has been able to show the ‘heat’ of the creative hotspots and the spillover into neighboring areas. (Click here for the pdf containing drill-down views of different U.S. regions)

Even though Kevin provides a brief glimpse at his methodology, I’m still not sure about the data he’s using. It would be interesting to see it in its raw form.

So, the question I have as I look over this map is what this means for businesses and for creatives. For the latter, it clearly shows where to find other creatives and probably more fulfilling work options.

Some questions to ponder:

Is there a reason why Arizona, Nevada, and much of the west are relatively cool to creatives? It’s interesting that Southern California doesn’t factor into the map. New Orleans is still fairly hot. The area around Cincinnati is positively smoking. Bear in mind that I haven’t really dug into Florida’s core research so I find these trends curious.

Is geography still an important influence? We hear about creative folks ditching the big city scene for the small town or rural environment. And as long as there is a basic supportive infrastructure – I’m going to put high-speed internet/communications toward the top of that list – can’t you just move out to Santa Fe, New Mexico or Fargo, ND for a more creatively conducive environment? Will there be a point where the internet (or another future technology…like teleportation…I’m serious) will make geography an obsolete concept?

Do you see something interesting about the map? Any surprises?

Finding Purpose Is The Journey

by on June 5, 2006 in Creative, Life

Ever have the thought that the sooner you find your purpose in life, the happier you’ll feel? It’s kind of like our unique sense of purpose is the final piece to the puzzle of life and once it locks into place…well then we can check that one off the list and then really start living.

I admit this trap is hard not to fall into at times. And when you do, it’s always nice to have someone help you climb out. For instance, I like what Patricia Soldati writes in her article, Finding Purpose: Don’t Let It Get You Down:

Purpose is not a thing, or a goal to be achieved. Maybe it’s your work…or maybe not. It lives on no one’s timetable and defies any systemic approach that says, “At the end of this lesson, you will be able to…”

In fact, the more you hard-core it – set your mind to finding it – the more elusive it becomes. You end up chasing away that which you most want to embrace in your life.

She then lists four ways to reconsider the journey of finding purpose. My big takeaway? Number 2: Find it outside of your own needs. Sometimes I get so wrapped up in my own sense of self-exploration, I forget that the answers to the really big questions just might exist outside of myself.

All You Need Is Love In The Workplace

by on June 1, 2006 in Creative, Work

When you talk about love in the workplace, most folks think of inter-office romances or tawdry office affairs. At the very least, our culture teaches us that love should not be part of our workplace vernacular. That’s unfortunate since it is love which energizes us toward new heights and gives us courage to take authentic action.

Over the past couple of days, I’ve been reflecting on what Dennis Bakke in Joy At Work says about love and its place in our worklives. Rather than running away from love because it’s “mushy” or “soft” or simply “inappropriate,” what else is there?

It is love that allows us to give up our power of control. It is love that allows us to treat each person in our organization with respect and dignity. Love sends people around the world to serve others. Love inspires people to work with greater purpose.

As for when we feel attacked or misunderstood in our work, Bakke continues with his own experience:

Love helps me understand why some colleagues, supervisors, board members, and subordinates did not subscribe to my theories or behave in a manner consistent with our highest principles and values. Love makes it possible for me to forgive those who derided my views and caused me so much pain. Because love is directed toward others, it allows for the possibility that my critics were right and I was wrong. And, if I was wrong, I would hope that love would enable my detractors to forgive the forceful way I pushed my philosophy. (italics mine)

And as for why bringing love to our workplace is so important:

I continue to believe that love is the final and crucial ingredient in a joy-filled workplace. It is a state of mind that requires no extra costs and no difficult trade-offs against competing organizational goals. It does not demand higher compensation or fancy offices or sophisticated information systems or more specialized staff people. Yet love is perfectly consistent with even the most aggressive economic goals.

Some folks may bristle and disbelieve that last statement about the compatibility of love with making a profit, but I share his faith. In today’s world, profit is really easy come, easy go. Even those companies and non-profits who have enjoyed consistent growth can’t accurately predict the future or increasingly fickle customers. But, love is always there for us, always within us to bring to our work and those we work with. That’s the challenge, though…often it takes courage to bring that love to places where love may not always be present or to folks who don’t believe it belongs in a professional office environment.

Today, keep the Beatles in your heart and sing, “All you need is love, love, love is all you need.”