An Interesting E-Mail

In this Bloutcher
Where Art, Life and Leadership Collide

• An Interesting E-Mail
• An Act of Unabashed Family Promotion

An Interesting E-Mail

I want to share a fascinating e-mail I received this week from a client.  I asked the client permission to share his email and he happily agreed.

Some background:  The client is the head of a successful wealth management firm.  I have worked with him and his team in the areas of strategic planning and leadership development over a number of years.  He has been a willing guinea pig for the tools, concepts and techniques which are at the heart of a program I call The Leaders Studio.  This has led, on numerous occasions, to several remarkable and rewarding breakthroughs for him and his business.  However, this last email takes our work to an entirely different level.  The idea he comes up with at the end of the email is entirely his idea.

So here's his E-Mail:

Fred,

Thanks again for your timely Bloutcher.  I just got back from NYC and had the opportunity and pleasure to make it to the Guggenheim for an exhibition of Picasso in Black and White.  It was an incredible experience.  And the museum's space is such a unique way to view a collection.

I was moved and recharged by his work.  The range of what he painted from just a few lines of black on white paper to intricate abstracts to classical portraits which looked like ancient Greek sculptures...and so much more.  I found myself so open to possibilities and seeing things in the art that I was not sure I would have seen before.

So I made a decision.  I have a day blocked off in my calendar for business planning in a couple of weeks and I am going to do it at the MFA (Museum of Fine Arts.)  I think a fresh and inspiring environment will help me see things in new and bigger ways.

Thanks for helping me see more.  Hope all is well.

From a creativity point of view, this email is interesting for several reason:

• The client sees a parallel between being open to new possibilities in art and new possibilities in business planning
• This insight did not come at work.  It came from doing something entirely different from work, but the insight provides direct benefit to his work.
• The client recognizes that being in an environment that at first seems entirely distracting actually stimulates creative insights that support work.

An additional thought:  research shows that if you want to come up with your best, most creative thinking you should not engage in such thinking at your primary work place.  Why is this?  Because work places have the following characteristics:

• They implicitly and explicitly reward analytical, judgmental thinking
• They reinforce the idea that you must "get it right."
• They are filled with routine and repetition
• They do not allow the time and space for deep reflection and thinking
• And many more

I've held workshops with senior leaders in museums and I can tell you unequivocally that the quality of conversation and the kinds of insights that bubble to the surface in such environments demonstrates the power of environment.

An Act of Unabashed Family Promotion

I'd like to introduce you to a project by one of my daughters and her husband.  They are producing a documentary film that traces the journey of a copy of Mein Kampf from the battle fields of Germany to Brooklyn, New York and Boston, Massachusetts and back to its origins in Lubeck, Germany and the children of its original owner.  It's a journey filled with surprises and the unsuspecting and sometimes disturbing lessons of history that remain with us today.  They plan to enter the film in film festivals in the United States and Europe this summer.

Take a look at the trailer ( 2 and 1/2 minutes) and if you think it is a worthy project, consider sponsoring it.  Click here to link to the trailer and to their Kickstarter.com project.   

Yellow Crayon & Q-Tips

In This Bloutcher
Where Art, Life and Leadership Collide

• Yellow Crayon & Q-Tips
• Live Smart After 50!

Yellow Crayon & Q-Tips

I had the sheet of drawing paper laid out on the table.  My two year old grandson Baylor stood in front of the table as I suggested we do some drawing.  I lifted a yellow crayon from the box and handed it to Baylor, greatly anticipating the kind of markings he would make on the paper.  Circles? Squiggles? Zigzags?

That's when Baylor taught me something about leadership.  He grabbed the yellow crayon and, hopping from the table, he began swirling it in his ear.  Squeals of delight filled the air.  He thought that yellow crayon was the coolest q-tip the world had never imagined!

Assumptions!

I had assumptions.  Drawing paper, yellow crayon, circles, squiggles or zigzags!

How about none of the above.  Baylor's uncorrupted and unbiased mind carried no such assumptions.  For him, it was yellow crayon, anything is possible--and it has to bring delight!

Assumptions are often necessary.  They represent a short hand that does not require we explain everything from the beginning over and over again.  Assumptions can also throw a cold press over our adult minds.  They often freeze us out of seeing new and more intriguing possibilities.

Henri Matisse tells us the true creator "has to look at life as he did when he was a child and if he loses that faculty, he cannot express himself in an original ...way."

And so with leadership.  How many times have you heard:

Mary Cassatt Children Playing on the Beach

That won't work around here.
That's not been our experience.
You need more resources to pull that off.
That's just not the way people work.
We've tried that before and it didn't work.
It'll take too long.
Etc.
All are assumptions.  All are wet rags.

Instead, think:  
Yellow crayons make great q-tips.

And bring a child's mind to your organization's creative dilemma.  Try to consider what would bring delight and don't fear looking foolish!


LIVE SMART AFTER 50!  The Experts' Guide to Life Planning for Uncertain Times
 


I am excited to announce the publication of LIVE SMART AFTER 50!  It is a wonderful collaboration of experts across the country and across vital areas of interest and concern for those in the second half of live.  It is a rich, informative, and inspiring read and it makes a fabulous gift this time of year.  Here's a blurb:

LIVE SMART AFTER 50! offers friendly, focused, forward thinking and action oriented help to the challenges of aging in the 21st century.  Rich in practical experience and wisdom, self exploration exercises, and diverse resources, it's a companionable guide for planning and preparing for the second half of life.

In a unique collaboration, thirty-three of the nation's experts in life planning and positive aging distill the most critical issues.  From finding work, community, creativity, purpose and legacy to financing your dreams, making sure your voice is heard, anticipating challenges of aging, and living with purpose and vitality, LIVE SMART AFTER 50! will help you get the big picture, identify and reduce risks, expand choices, and prepare to take advantage of--rather than fear--the future.

To order either a paperback or e-book version go to this link:  http://www.livesmartafter50.com/