Tuesday, August 30, 2011

Still in Paris

In This Bloutcher
  • Still in Paris
  • Announcements

In 1965 I spent 9 months in Paris, studying philosophy before heading to graduate school in Chicago. The French were still using newspaper for toilet paper back then and men wearing berets carrying their baguettes were everywhere. Today the baguettes remain but the berets have been replaced by scarves, even on hot summer evenings.

Back then I took a six week trip into southern France, across the great Valadolid plains of Spain into Portugal. Franco was still in power and silly pointed hats of the guardia civilia could be seen even in the remote towns. I drove a deux cheveau which means two horses because it purportedly had only two horsepower and sipped petrol at the rate of 60 miles a gallon. The deux cheveau had such an odd appearance that it made you think a Dr. Suess character would pop out any second. Of course, you could read a novel driving at full throttle up the hills and if you got into a head on with a Vespa you would lose for sure. One night I pulled over and slept in a field because the stars were as large as grapefruit and I had always wondered what it would be like to sleep under a night sky filled with grapefruit. Some of the grapefruit flared wildly and fell to the earth in flashes of brilliance and I mistook them for a moment for shooting stars. I felt the night coolness settle on my cheeks and fell asleep with all kinds of possibilities awaiting me.

On the drive back to Paris I kept wondering how the city had changed during my 6 week absence. And then I heard the winds of time whisper: Oh, but you have--how you have changed. I looked through the rear view mirror, trying to catch a glimpse of the wind, but only the road stretched back as far as I could see.

I am in Paris at this moment and except for the toilet paper and the scarves and a few other unimportant details, Paris remains Paris remains Paris. Plus ca change, plus c'est la meme chose. And what about me? Did the wind speak the truth? I like to think I would still pull over and sleep the night under the sky of grapefruit and fall asleep with all kinds of possibilities awaiting me. The other day Karen and I took our shoes and socks off in a lovely park in the 15th arrondissement and felt the moist earth energy under the grass and then we sat under a shady Linden tree and looked at the sky inspired by a Corot painting (left)--or is it the other way around, or maybe it was a Sisley sky (right) but it really doesn't matter since the sky hasn't changed either between their time and ours.

I think that when you are in your 20s and you are in Paris for the first time you are not able ever to leave--you are always still in Paris.

I remember during the return drive from Spain and Portugal refocusing on the road ahead and whispering half to myself, half to the unseen wind: We are not as timeless as Paris. We are here, perhaps we never leave even when we are gone and then something else happens. I have been back to Paris many times since that first time. I better understand some things now, and other things I understand less well. That's a kind of change. The wind was right. I have changed from the first time. Or am I perhaps the same in different ways?


Announcements:

  • Check out the BIF-7 Innovation Summit. I am excited about being invited as one of the Summit's storytellers. Now in its 7th year, the Summit has been named by Mashable as one of the "7 places to see great minds at work." The Summit is magic. It's intimate. It's assumption blowing. It opens up windows to whole new worlds. You should consider being there. Learn more about BIF-7 by clicking here.
  • I will be speaking at Fidelity Investments in October at a special client appreciation event. I will also be doing a special program for Rockland Trust, also in October, for those who are considering what comes next in their lives.
  • I also want to put in a special plug for the program I am doing with Nancy Fernandez Mills at Esalen, November 13 through 18, at Big Sur in California. This is a magical place and the program which will be a special version of our Life Change Studio promises to be highly engaging, insight provoking and transformative. Consider giving yourself a unique gift and joining us for the program. For more information click here. Also check out a workshop my wife Karen is conducting at Esalen at the same time. The workshop titled Calling Calliope; Finding Your Poetic Voice. Not only is Karen a wonderful poet, she has a unique ability to put you in touch with parts of youself that you never knew were there. Check out her workshop by clicking here.

Wednesday, August 10, 2011

A Different Kind of Hunger

In this Bloutcher
  • A Different Kind of Hunger
  • Announcements
  • Vive la Difference
A Different Kind of Hunger

I am currently staying in friends Nat and Margaret Harrison's apartment in the 15th arrondissement in Paris for the month of August. They have returned to the states to visit family and generously allowed us the run of their place.

During our stay I have been rereading an old copy of A Moveable Feast by Ernest Hemingway which recounts the profound impact Paris had on him in the early days. For one thing, living here gave him a heightened sense of his native Michigan and allowed him to capture his youthful memories in one of the great American classics In Our Time. Interesting how being in a foreign country produces a perspective that leads you to see things more clearly about your native country.

I bring this up because rereading A Moveable Feast led me to realize something about innovation and creativity that never occurred to me back in the states. Hemingway writes about his practice of writing in the morning and then taking the Metro to the Odeon stop and walking through the Luxembourg Gardens on an empty stomach. He often stopped at the Luxumbourg Museum to look at the Cezanne paintings. He writes: " I learned to understand Cezanne much better to see truly how he made landscapes when I was hungry. I used to wonder if he were hungry too when he painted; but I thought possibly it was only that he had forgotten to eat. Later I thought Cezanne was probably hungry in a different way."

I wonder about this different kind of hunger. Not the kind that growls in the pit of the stomach but the kind that rumbles in the core of our souls. I think is the kind of hunger Hemingway saw in Cezanne. After all, the ordinary kind of hunger cannot sustain creativity. At least that's what contemporary research tells us.

I also wonder about this kind of hunger when it comes to organizations and innovation. It raises the question of whether an organization can experience this kind of hunger and whether it can be truly innovative without it. Hemingway and Cezanne experienced this kind of hunger and it drove them to great creative efforts. Can the same kind of hunger be experienced by organizations?

In his classic book Self-Renewal, John Gardner explores the growing complexity of modern society and the importance of self renewal to a vibrant, innovative society and its organizations. Ultimately, he claims, innovation and creativity come down to the efforts of individuals. Yet, he acknowledges the importance of creating environments that actively foster individual self renewal. Which brings us back to the importance of organizational self renewal. Without such renewal organizations cannot create environments that support and generate individual creativity. As Gardner puts it, the purpose of all our knowledge is "to design environments conducive to individual fulfillment."

Do we dare say that the only way this can happen is through the courageous efforts of leaders who themselves understand that innovation and creativity are the best ways to feed this different kind of hunger.

This is the pathway pursued by Cezanne and Hemingway. They changed nothing less than the arch of art and literature. Even Picasso acknowledged that "Cezanne was the mother of us all." Perhaps we need leaders who think of themselves as the Cezannes and Hemingways of their organizations. Perhaps one day we will look back at these leaders and say they were the mothers of us all.

Announcements
  • Check out the BIF-7 Collaborative Innovation Summit. I am excited to be attending as one of the summit storytellers. No in its 7th year, the BIF Summit was named by Mashable as one of the "7 places to see great minds at work." The summit is magic. It's intimate. It's assumption blowing. It opens up windows to whole new worlds. You should consider being there. Learn more about BIF-7 click here.
  • Our pilot for Coaching for Life Change Artists is in full gear. We are aiming to release the online training program in the fall. Let me know if you would like to be alerted to its official launch.
Vive la Difference
  • patisseries
  • Velib bicycle rentals
  • Fitou 2009 for $7.50 per bottle
  • Baguettes, baguettes, baguettes
  • The Metro
  • Walk, walk, walk
  • patisseries
  • Doors
  • quais
  • small shops
  • patisseries
  • Parisian clouds
  • iron work on balconies
  • patisseries