I can’t even see the box!

“Lewis and Clark were lost most of the time. If your idea of exploration is to always know where you are and to be inside your zone of competence, you don’t do wild new shit. You have to be confused, upset, think you’re stupid. If you’re not willing to do that, you can’t go outside the box”

Nathan Myhrvold (speaking about Bill Gates)

If you haven’t had the chance I suggest you take a look at this performance by Pink at the 2010 Grammys. Whether you are a fan or not you have to admire the beauty, grace, artistry and imagination of this performance.

After being surprised and then spellbounded by the choreography I thought about the incredible risk of the very idea to do this. In the midst of typical flashing lights, synchronized group dancing, and cheezy sets of other performances, someone(s) not only thought outside the box, but took the box apart and reassembled it into something completely different and then threw it out the window to build an entirely new box!

How 0ften are we this creative? Whether your job is to be creative or your job is checking people out at the local grocery you have the opportunity and the potential to be this creative.

Now I’m not just talking about rethinking what is already there. That is a typical constraint – “We have this red thingy here…let’s make it green instead of red!” If you are here you are not even close to the creative opportunity that Nathan Myhrvold speaks about in the quote above.

I’m suggesting you throw the thingy away and rethink the entire concept. Use every tool, technique, system, and resource available to you to breakout of the box, stomp on it and create a whole new one!

(Re)do

When things are going wrong how hard is it to stop, reflect and, if necessary, redo?

For example, if you are in the middle of a project and discover that the solution is not going to work for the customer what do you do?  Do you push ahead and try to get the customer to rethink what they “really” need so that it matches what you are producing? Do you push your team to redesign, retest and deliver a new solution in a crashed timeframe; thereby causing undue stress and pressure on the team? Or, do you redo with full disclosure?

[Sidebar] I know what all you project managers out there are thinking “if you did proper project planning you wouldn’t be in this pickle. “  I’m a PMP and know where you are coming from. Let’s assume that this happened for sake of argument.

My point is how willing are you to stand up and say, “We need to redo this!”  Admit that mistakes were made, take responsibility for the team and go to the customer with an apology and a new plan of attack.  It ain’t easy, it takes some guts, and it’s plenty risky.

With all the risk involved, I’m suggesting that it’s more important to do the right thing than to cover it up.  I’ve seen plenty of projects that try to do just that and more often than not the cover is eventually removed and the ugly truth is revealed.  That is not a good place to be.  I have been there and have learned this lesson the hard way.

By doing the right thing there’s a good chance you might feel some temporary pain, but in the long run you won’t have regrets.

So, if it’s the right thing to do, than (re)do.

(Re)Think

I sat in my respective house of worship on Sunday and it struck me – every week is the same routine, different message: Welcome, chorus, reading, hymn, candle lighting, chorus, sermon, hymn, postlude. I thought to myself  “What if we did this differently? What if…for one Sunday we just changed “how” we deliver the important messages?”

I invite you to (Re)Think how you do things. I’m hypothesizing that doing some things differently will open life up to new perspectives, renewed energy, greater creativity, empathy and awareness! Think about doing these things differently:

• Your morning routine
• The route you take to\from work each morning
• Your next team meeting
• Where you have lunch (and who you have lunch with)
• Where you sit at the table for meals at home
• Which shoe you put on first
• Your daily planner
• The type of pen\pencil you use to write
• Your email signature
• The website you get your news from
• Your mobile ringtone\ringback
• Flavor coffee\tea you drink
• The radio station you listen to

What else can you (Re)Think?