The things happening in this video are amazing (embedded at the bottom of this post) , but it is the words, especially starting at 1:51, that inspire me. They could easily become my mantra:
“Stray away from the direct path. Take risks. Don’t be afraid to make mistakes, because it is only from the mistakes that we learn, and it’s from the mistakes that the really interesting things happen. We may not always create or invent, but we always learn when we try.”
As leaders, it is not simply enough to say “take risks”, but it is essential to show that you are willing to do the same. This is a cultural shift from what we are used to so simply encouraging people to be courageous and creative is not enough. You need to embody it. Eddie Obeng talks about this in his Ted Talk:
All the CEOs around me, my clients, they want innovation, so they seek innovation. They say to people, “Take risks and be creative!” But unfortunately the words get transformed as they travel through the air…entering their ears…what they hear is, “Do crazy things and then I’ll fire you.” Why? Because in the old world…getting stuff wrong meant you’d failed, and how should you be treated? Well, harshly, because you could have asked somebody who had “experience.” So, we learned the answer and we carried this in our heads for 20 or 30 years…so, how should you be treated [when you fail]? You should be treated better than the people who succeed.
Changing yourself is the first step to changing a culture.
What is being creative? from Kristian Ulrich Larsen on Vimeo.
Absolutely loved this! Came home from a long day and what has been a long week. Decided to read a few tweets. As a person that derives energy from being creative, I really connected with this message and think that it could speak to such a wide audience. Thanks for thought provoking blog post. Hmmmmm
Yes, I love it too! Thanks for posting George. I showed it to my Inquiry class. They are doing a project all about themselves and this was very timely as they are now assembling a project and can be as creative as they like. Always enjoy your blog posts!
Mistakes are incredibly important for personal learning & scientific development. I have learning disabities & growing up I made made many mistakes at school – even failed grade one. I was ashamed and recall telling the librarian, who became my favorite teacher, that I was going to be an artist when I grew up because I would never learn to read or write.
The interesting thing about dyslexia is that while you struggle with fine details – such as which side the stick goes on a 'b' or 'd' – you have an incredible ability to see the big picture. I was lucky that I had a mother who had the time and ability to spend many hours working with me on my reading and excellent teachers who supported me at school. I learned to be creative in my learning style – developing mental tricks for learning memorizing – not unlike Empower Reading Program that exists today for kids struggling to learn to read. The point to all of this being, perfection or getting the right answer is highly over rated. So many children at such a young age get discouraged & even give up because they're not able to get the right answer in the traditional way. The focus needs to be in helping these kids to take risks & be creative in finding ways to adapt the lesson to their style of learning.
I want to add to this discussion by saying that it's very hard to be creative or have the confidence to take risks if you have a low self-esteem, which is what happens when you are continuously told you are wrong. That's where parents, teacher & other caring adults play an important role in role modeling creativity & risk taking in learning.
I want to end by saying that I read an article that people with dyslexia often go into engineering, tech, or project management because of their unique ability to think outside the box and map out the big picture inside their heads. I think about how many students did not go on to fulfilling careers because their potential was left untapped behind the wall of dyslexia & low self esteem. I think these students, perhaps more than regular students, need to be encouraged to take risks & be creative – their ability to unlock their true potential depends on it.
PS I wrote this on my iPhone & did not have sp check – please dismiss any sp mistakes
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