Innovative Concepts

To Win or Not?
The finish of one race is the start of the next

Your competitor in a running race establishes a definitive gap and heads to certain victory.  They stop 10 meters before the finish line believing they have won the race.  You close on them quickly seeing their mistake.  You can pass them and profit from their error as they stand in false celebration.  What do you do?

Here is how one competitor acted.  Action defined by belief.

Impressive Stories
Centre National d’Art et de Culture George Pompidou

When we are asked what we did during the weekend we tend to share impressive actions.  When we are asked what we did by a member of our tribe we tend to share our inspirational actions.  Impressive stories are easy.  They include buying a must have gadget at an amazing discount, skiing a double black diamond, traveling long distances, finishing a puzzle.  Inspiring stories take more effort but their impact is far greater.  To inspire your actions must benefit someone other than yourself.  The impact of an impressive story is that the listener may go repeat your action. The impact of an inspiring story is that the listener may take action that benefits others.  The results in exponentially greater.

Which stories do you tell?

Count Up or Count Down

Are you counting the distance covered or the distance until you arrive?  There is a moment of inflection when we start counting the distance covered and then switch to counting down that which remains before we arrive at the finish.  It is my experience that once we believe we can reach the finish line (or the starting point is too far away to consider retreating) we start counting down.  If you run a marathon, somewhere along the course 19-miles run switches to 7.2 miles remaining.  We reverse engineer from our preferred destination all the time. The details change when we alter our orientation from the start or finish place.

Inspiration and Trolls
Troll Under the Bridge

When I wander into the reader’s comments at the end of an online article it is easy to find myself sucked into a vortex.  The commentaries are often from individuals who sit willingly outside the window at an art gallery and point out all the ‘flaws’ in the artist’s work.  Their version of performance art is to devalue those who they do not understand or do not present their version of reality.  There is a reason these comments are placed under the article.  The artist (writer) presents their best work.  I can read it and form my own opinion.  Or I can go under the bridge and hangout with the trolls who seek to draw people into their gloomy world where the sun rarely shines.  It is my choice but these two worlds are separated by inspiration.