2. “Book collecting is an obsession, an occupation, a disease, an addiction, a fascination, an
absurdity, a fate. It is not a hobby. Those who do it must do it. Those who do not do it,
think of it as a cousin of stamp collecting, a sister of the trophy cabinet, bastard of a
sound bank account and a weak mind.”
Jeanette Winterson
3. What about eliminating Change and
switch to ZOOMing instead?
Stretching without threatening
Source: Seth Godin
Google’s Mantra – to encourage calculated and rapid risk taking
Share a story about an ah-ha moment I had during a training session
One of those HR courses – probably a management one – offered through SunU
My expectation: instructor speaks, I listen and take copious notes, I retain some good stuff, wait for lunch so I can check in with my team
What really happened: after usual ice-breaking moment, instructor had us break into teams. Each person on the team had 5 chances to throw a ball into a basket with the usual rules - #1 being, get the ball into the basket
4 tries – 0 points
Last try – instructor changes the rules to “There is no failure. Any attempt is a success. Do what you want to get the ball into the basket”
My take-away? I don’t remember the class, I do remember the feeling of instantaneous freedom to reach, to try, to succeed in a new and different way
The result? I keep that mantra in my mind, esp when I start to feel my internal barriers coming up?
And do the barriers come up? Sure do –
Fax machine story
My other mantra – technology is our friend, it makes things possible, but in the end, it’s all about making relationships possible
Relationships = connections – between people and content, people and people
So Seth Godin has come up with a different way of viewing “CHANGE” or change avoidance
His concept is “Zoom” - stretching into the ‘change’ by removing the threatening environment
Ex: we all read – but we’re probably reading very similar types of books, maybe you have 3-4 genres that you easily gravitate towards: sci fi, contemporary, non-fiction, British lit, Pulitzer Prize winners, etc
What if you decided to :zoom” into a new genre? It’s still reading, but now it’s reading a different type of book
Seth’s idea is to do the same thing (AKA reading) but do it differently
Ex: bicycle on the flats, now bicycle on hills (same process but requires some additional skills and ability)
Ex: bicycle -> unicycle (same thing = balance required)
Ex: getting from one place to another = walk – bicycle – train – car – plane as explored in the BBC series Cranford
Ideas: read a new magazine, watch a new sport, attend a new event (tattoo expo – art on bodies instead of art on the walls)
