Walk for Tibet Feb 14,2011

When I wrote my January 25 post about LIVING for your cause instead of waiting to DIE for it, who could have predicted that my dear friend Jigme Norbu- who had walked over 7800 miles around the world on Walks for Tibet would end up giving his life for his cause, even while he was living for it.  (see www.WalkforTibetFlorida.com & www.AmbassadorsforWorldPeace.org ) 

Jigme walked for World Peace, Human Rights, Tibetan Independence and Freedom for All, knowing that Step by Step as he walked, he could reach out Person by Person to bring awareness of the issues, invite or inspire each of them with a voice to use it for good, and to set off a chain reaction of kindness that would create inner or  ’local peace’….leading in time to world peace.

Since Jigme had asked me a year before to organize the Walk for Tibet Florida event, and I had just been with him not an hour before the tragic accident, my immediate life focus took on an all-encompassing urgency  as I dealt with all aspects of the situation- police reports, family liason, global media calls, care, transport, feeding & housing of the growing band of walkers- many of them Tibetan- who began arriving into a variety of Florida airports from all over the United States to honor Jigme by completing his Walk, arrival of Jime’s family to join the Walk, speaking engagements, film showing & discussion of the issues, meetings with Mayors and officials, and making sure the Walk Completion Celebration ceremony now included an appropriate Memorial Tribute to our leader and friend.

Oh, yes, and dealing with the inevitable little disputes and discrepancies that crop up whenever you have a group of strong-willed people in an intense environment.  I know all too well from what I teach that we cannot see another person’s intentions, but we tend to judge others based on OUR perception of their behaviors.

Overall, despite the shock and immense loss that I still feel in every fiber of my being, the whole experience was enthralling, exhilerating and uplifting (as well as a stark reminder to live fully while we can). To have experienced the powerful daily magic of good will like a force-field eminating out before us as we walked was life-changing; meeting amazing people- both the Tibetans and locals who walked, who each had their own amazing stories, locals along our walk route who appeared to support us and the cause by offering hospitality of meals and lodging, donations or kind words, the burst of international and local media interest and attention to the cause and our little band of walkers…..the discussions with each other as we shared stories and coached each other based on what value each could offer, the morning prayers and yoga to both set intentions and keep limber during the 25-30 miles walked daily, enjoying the beauty of nature and local scenes as we passed through each town.  People along the way were thanking US for giving them the opportunity to offer kindness and TLC. It’s almost as if they were just waiting to be asked! This is a force for good just waiting to be unleashed in a world that has become disconnected from each other because of technology, fear or uber-busy-ness.

We really experienced what Jigme talked about, and walked for.  This type of comraderie and thrill of engaging for a higher purpose is what makes people feel alive and triggers a domino effect of kindness and caring. This is the starting point for world peace.

It reminds us of how we want life to be, how we want to live…and sometimes, what we have to die for. May he rest in Peace, (or continue as an activist for Peace from beyond!), our beloved friend and Walk leader Jigme Norbu. 

Forever Young-Walk for Tibet Florida

For Creative Inclusion leading to higher productivity and morale in life and at work, we need to design out ostracism as well as greasing the wheels for inclusion. Here are a few steps to handling a situation of ostracization before or when it happens.  Ultimately we need: 

• to build up sensitivity to spot when ostracism is occurring around us unwittingly or purposely- whether we are the victim or perpetrator
•  stores of personal resilience to prevent sliding down the slippery slope of negative backlash ourselves.
• This includes noting when it is in our best interest to remove ourselves from circumstances that could escalate into ugliness, and
• knowing how to tend to a sting to our pride- whether that is a romp with our dog, time out with a cup of tea or a chat with a good friend.
• Sometimes it also requires we take the higher road by assuming that the offenders are blinded by their own prejudices which are not personal to us
• Building an environment of inclusion is the next step, by design or by default to natural principles of positive relating. 

This then puts us back in control of our emotions, if not the circumstances, which is a first step in feeling connected. And that’s why we wanted to be included in the first place.

There was a recent incident in a professional football game where a team coach on the sidelines stuck out his knee and tripped an opposing team player running past him. Fortunately, no one was hurt, and despite apologies, the coach was suspended. 

Meanwhile, the newsreels  revealed that that same coach had ordered his non-playing team members to line up foot to foot along the sidelines, effectively creating a wall that could impede the progress of a runner along those same sidelines. Hmmm. Was this just psychological pressure or an illegal maneuver?

In my local paper today, commentary was entitled, ‘Thin Line Between Psyching and Cheating’, pointing out that as in many games there is a fine line between Read More→

Introducing the awesome mastery of my Kazhak friend and former neighbor in England, Marat Bisengaliev, (and his colleagues) knocking out a bit of Mendelssohn. They make it look so easy, but as with mastery of any sort, the thankless time on task invested over y-e-a-r-s is momentous. Enjoy!

laden with information!

So what’s the big deal about 12 noon on January 1, 2011 that is set to rock our planet?

 This is the supposed time and date by which the amount of information in the world is set to double in a 12 hour period. So between midnight Dec. 31, 2010 and noon January 1, 2011, the world, and Atlas shouldering it, will quiver, quake, moan and groan under the weight of  DOUBLE the amount of information that populated the world the day before. Holy cow! What on earth (literally) are we to make of it all or even do with it? We are overloaded  and overwhelmed now!

Another scary factoid is that it is considered common knowledge in the publishing industry that, except in rare cases of tightly written briefs, most written material is composed of about 90% filler. Yes, you heard me- FILLER information. In other words, 10% of most written material is essence leaving a whopping 90% as filler, verbosity, hot-air, pomposity, make-it-look-like-they- know- their-stuff and customers-expect a big-fat-book-for their-money  FILLER.

So not only do we need to know how to sort through all those piles and files of information to find the golden nuggets, we need to be able to find what we need , when we need it, and make sense of what we find.

In the coming month I will share with you every day, right here on this blog, a series of thinking tools, techniques and strategies that will give you hope and a leg up on the coming information onslaught.

Stay tuned and hold on for the ride!

What fascinates me in the whole process mentioned below is the power of the meme; the sound-bite meaning-laden concept which serves a dual purpose.  In physics it is now said that energy is both a particle and a wave at any given time, but not both at once.  I sense that a meme is similar. Based on some event or mere proclamation, at one point in time an emergent meme stakes a claim in the cultural landscape proclaiming its arrival and existence. “I’m here! It’s my turn now! Look at me! I’m the new New!”   And , we of swivel-necked short attention spans turn our heads en -masse and collectively jump on the bandwagon. This is now facilitated by traditional and social media networks that spread memes globally at lightning speed, for better or worse.

 Many memes simply arise, but they can also be planted on purpose. It is even considered successful marketing if your meme (which becomes known as a key word phrase) wins Read More→

‘C’ mindset invites us to challenge  the staus quo, ‘what is’,  in the Spirit of ‘search and discover’ rather than ‘search and destroy’.

We know from science and life that it is easier to move an object that is already moving than one standing still. And it’s usually easier to move an object that is tipped on edge than one standing flat on the ground. Since creativity is about ‘mental movement’ one of the ways to get that is to escape the status quo by pushing against it. How we do that is to tip it on it’s edge, not in direct confrontation that would be like pushing it flat, but by nudging it out of balance by looking at it in a different way. Or gain movement by changing the surrounding circumstances that caused that thing to be the way it is. This happens to us all the time in the real world, like what’s happening now to print media and news coverage in the age of the internet and social networks. They are being forced to reinvent themselves, or die. Smart organizations would have seen this coming and used Mindset C to prepare in advance.

When we know how to take advantage of Creative Mindset C we can role play situations in advance- ask ‘what if’ questions and play a provocative ‘devil’s advocate’ role.

The trick is NOT to degenerate, especially under pressure, to what I refer to as ‘search and destroy’- a kind of ‘out to getcha’ attitude that is rarely constructive. Rather, you choose a creative focus either because of perceived need or for advance planning purposes, and doggedly seek alternatives, new ways to deliver the same or similar products, hunt for new applications or markets, find gaps that R & D can help you fulfil over time and so on. This is more of a ‘search and discover’ process, which should yield constructive, even if not yet fully developed, options for staying engaged in a changing marketplace. And it’s fun!

Think of 3 issues you are facing in your enterprise: maybe technical gadgetry, methods of marketing, hiring trusted virtual staff, etc. Poke and probe like a cat playing with a mouse, looking for weak spots, areas of strength to leverage, placing the issue in a new circumstance to generate a stronger position and whatever else comes up. As a result, you may decide to make some changes to abandon or shore up your position, or not…but at least you’ll have a deeper knowledge of factors involved for when you must make a move.