Being duped by the doper: Why I still support Lance

He lied.  And he lied again. And then some more.

He lied over and over.

All with the intended result of helping people who were unable to help themselves.

He lifted them up.  Infused them with pride and hope and a reason to live.

Helped them live.

Others did what he did but it never got the same attention, probably because of the extraordinary measures he employed to cover up his actions.

Had his fellow countrymen known what he was doing, they likely would have been repulsed.

But he was very persuasive.

And in the long run, he was responsible for saving countless lives.  You could argue, generations.

But still, people will ask: Did he do it for them?  Or for himself? 

We’ll never know.  Because Oskar Schindler died almost 40 years ago.

Oskar Schindler deceived people. Like Lance Armstrong.

Oskar Schindler inspired people. Like Lance Armstrong.

The circumstances couldn’t have been more different.  You may find the comparison insensitive.  If so, I sincerely apologize.

But it proves a point about the importance of inspiration and the incredibly powerful force it can become, regardless of how that inspiration came to be.

Lying should not be taught.  But inspiration can’t be taught.

It’s not in any textbook.  It comes instinctively.  And often it comes when people manipulate, tell white lies, and stretch the truth; teachers, coaches, even parents will do it, for what they believe is the good of their pupils.

The world shouldn’t condone lying. But the world needs inspiration.  As much as it can get. The everyday Do a Good Job kind, and far more important, the Life-Affirming, Life-Saving kind.

It’s in short supply.  And in great need.

Now that the momentum has tilted to schadenfreude, it’s time to villify Lance Armstrong and be repulsed by his actions.

Not me.

From what I’ve read from cancer survivors who were inspired by Lance Armstrong, he helped them fight and livestrong.  And just plain live. That’s some serious life and death stuff.

In my mind, what he did to make that possible pales in comparison.

When you can have that kind of affect on a person, I’m OK with it. I’d bet the generations that will live because of it are OK with it too.

PS, don’t miss this late breaking story on the recent death of the youngest person from Oskar Schindler’s list.

Audacious creativity 101

Two items converged for me this week in a flash of audacious creativity.

One:  I went to see the Book of Mormon. 

Don’t see it if the sanctity of Mormonism is even remotely important to you or if you’d rather not hear the “F” word A LOT (both spoken and sung).

Do go if you want to laught your butt off at some of the most original musical material you’ll ever see.

Two:  Sears HoldingCorps. named Paul DePodesta to their Board of Directors, he of Moneyball fame (he was kind of played by Jonah Hill), assistant to the worshipper of sabermetrics and destroyer of everything holy in the old school way of building baseball teams.

Whether Mr. DePodesta can help the perpetually failing company remains to be seen.  But he's employed fresh thinking in the past to help resuscitate failing baseball teams.  

You don’t have to turn the world on it’s head or bring something outlandish to life to create something ridiculously successful.  But it sure makes it more interesting (and potentially more lucrative). The risk vs. reward ratio may a bit challenging, but man, is your potential upside massive.

And remember:  It’s actually riskier to not take a chance when you’re firm in your convictions.

What SHOWING UP looks like

Some people SHOW UP.

Other people just show up.

If you were born with a physical attribute that makes you clearly stand out, like tremendous height or size or beauty, or a halo hanging over your head at all times, you get noticed when you walk in a room.

For the rest of us, we need to do more to get noticed. But it doesn't have to be so hard.

You can SHOW UP by doing your homework about something or somebody and asking the right questions.

Finding out what their tastes and preferences and interests are, and sending them a note in advance of a meeting.

Wearing something great.

Smiling really big and having fantastic energy and enthusiasm.

The gentleman in the picture above whose back is to us is from a faraway land where seven-foot tall people aren't unusual.  On a basketball court in the middle of nowhere, his height is not just unusual, it's intimidating. He SHOWS UP.

How do you do it?

The virtues of going both ways

Manti Te’o and Charles Woodson have nothing in common.

Actually, they both had spectacular college football careers, for two of the most storied football programs (and finest universities) in the world.  So there’s that.

But Charles Woodson won a Heisman Trophy.

And Manti Te’o hasn’t.

Yet.

And I say, give it to him.

The catch is, he only plays on defense. 

It might help his case if he could run back a kick or two or line up as a receiver and catch a couple of passes for touchdowns.

Offensive players get all the glory in football because they score all the points.  When it comes time to vote for the Heisman, the most glorified award in college football, it’s extremely rare that a defensive player wins.

Well, OK, it pretty much never happens.  Charles Woodson (University of Michigan, 1997) did it, but he’s all alone.  Out of 76 Heisman winners, he was the only primarily defensive player to ever win the award. 

But he wasn’t only a defensive player.  He also ran back punts and played receiver, and scored key touchdowns from those positions.

They call it playing on both sides of the ball.

It’s extremely infrequent in today’s era of sports specialization.  It does happen at some smaller schools and in high school, where the most skilled athletes are sometimes asked to play on both sides of the ball.

Putting aside fear of injury for a second, why wouldn’t you have more people going both ways?  Theoretically, wouldn’t you want your best athletes out there all the time?  Don’t you think they could access different aspects of their physical abilities to make plays all over the field, in all different situations?

I use the same theory when it comes to using creative thinking to solve challenges.  Regardless of the type of challenge—be it strategic or executional—wouldn’t you want to put your best people on it, and put both sides of their brains on it?

You do have two sides, you know.  You may not access one as much as the other, but they’re both there ready and raring to go.

Don’t let people convince you that you’re good at only one way of thinking. You may have been told you’re more inclined to be an organizational, controlling, logical left brainer.  Or an imaginative, artistic, emotional right brainer.

I say you’re both.

Or you could be.

When it comes to working through a challenge, think all around it.  Expand your mind.  Go places you didn’t think possible or worthy.  Read inspiring (and easy) books like A Technique for Producing Ideas.  Or intellectually provocative white papers on big data.  Go to an art museum.  Read the New York Times.  Or Cosmo.  Or People. 

Play Halo.  Play the Piano.  Play Sudoku.  Go somewhere else, physically or mentally.

Be like Charles Woodson.  Make your brain go both ways.  See what glory comes to  you. 

And Manti Te’o, you’d have my vote right now if I had one.  But it sure would be easier if you could catch one little pass for a touchdown…

Welcome to SighBrrr™ Monday

Such a nice long holiday break.

Sigh.

Have to put on the down coats all week.

Brrr.

Back at work after extended amounts of time with the family.

Sigh.

It’s getting darker and colder earlier.

Brrr.

A week full of work after a half week last week.

Sigh.

Everybody’s  catching up, nobody’s actually talking to each other, leads are cold.

Brrr.

After the popularity of Black Friday (and Grey Thursday) and Small Business Saturday, days are getting all kinds of wacky names.

So you can call today Cyber Monday for the deals you’re hoping to get online.  Or ChiBear Monday in honor of yesterday’s win over the Vikings, or High Bar Monday for the goals you’ set before the ball drops in 35 days.

Or just SighBrrr™ Monday.  Describes the way most folks feel today. 

So put on your coat and get outside, breathe in some cool fresh air, and get ready for Giving Tuesday.

10 things Idea Creators can be thankful for

1. Aggregators.  Impossible to overexpress my appreciation for people who collect and then redistribute wonderful things.  Like Dave Pell and Maria Popova.   The former collects 10 stories a day and wraps them in his own twisted brand of biting humor.  The latter collects gobs and gobs and gobs of items every day, each one unique and interesting.  Both of them find stuff that save massive amounts of time and provide massive amounts of inspiration.

2. Originators.  People who are out there doing their own thing, which then becomes our thing.  Amy Krouse Rosenthal has been bringing loveliness to us for years.  Unique voices like hers are not easy to find so when you do, do whatever the legal and friendly version of stalking is.

3. Storytellers.  Find them wherever you can.  TED Talks is the obvious go-to; they can be hit or miss, but some of them are incredibly inspiring.  The most amazing talks are usually the most amazing stories.  Case in point:  Bill Strickland.  An unassuming speaker, a ridiculously riveting storyteller.  “There’s nothing wrong with poor people that sunlight, affection and dignity can’t cure.”

4. Collaborators.  Conferences like Chicago Ideas Week and techweek.  Weeklong petri dishes for connection and creativity.  It’s worth the price of admission to be surrounded by smart, creative people. Stock up on keychains and t-shirts but make sure you take part in the speeches, panels and exhibitors. Same's true of creative work spaces/incubators like 1871.  A staggering amount of invaluable fodder at your fingertips.  

5. Good Health.  Waking up every day and having the physical and mental ability to be in the idea business is never to be underestimated.

6. Independent coffee houses like Filter, Swim and Star Lounge in Chicago.  Infinite thanks for allowing us to do business without an office. For others, rent can be late.  For us, rent can be a latte (and a sandwich if you’re there during lunch).   When you’re surrounded by the energy of like-minded creative thinkers, you’re in business.  BTW, please tip heavily.

7. (Saving the best for last) Clients.  I’ve never had a client I didn‘t love.  They all have their quirks and some are more challenging than others, but without them, our ideas would go nowhere.  Be open and honest and Get Naked, and accept every one with a smile of appreciation and when necessary, a grain of salt. And when things get tough, here’s a thought:  turn your most challenging clients into ones that inspire you the most.  Aim to be over-and-above creative for them and solve their problems in ways they would never see. It could be the beginning of a beautiful relationship.

8, 9, 10.  Red wine, great cheese, and crusty bread.  For all the obvious reasons.

Six things to fear once the FOMO meme goes away

I’m assuming that by now you’ve heard of FOMO.  

FOMO, of course, stands for “Fear Of Missing Out,” a term coined by entrepreneur and blogger Caterina Fake last year, and was initially defined, in her words, as “what happens everywhere on a typical Saturday night, when you’re trying to decide if you should stay in, or muster the energy to go to the party.” 

What it’s become is the way social media has crowded our lives with gabillions of choices, and how we now need to constantly worry and wonder about missing out on something more interesting or exciting.

As memes go, it’s as au as courant gets.

The buzz around FOMO has continued, from South by Southwest to Mashable to the New York Times.  So in honor of FOMO and all the timely angst it brings to us 2012-ers, here are some more “Fear Of’s” that can help guide us until we find our way to the next great meme.

FOBBOTCS (Fear of being behind on the cool shows)

For people like me who don’t watch Breaking Bad, The Wire, Downton Abbey, or Boardwalk Empire.  Homeland provides my TV-watching awesomeness and it’s about all I can muster.

FOWUBTAGO (Fear of waking up before the alarm goes off)

Unless you like not getting enough sleep.

FONSYKE (Fear of not seeing your kids enough)

For any parent who works too hard or travels too much, you know what I’m talking about.  For Doggie-Only Parents, FONSYDE is just as bad (Sorry feline lovers, FONSYCE isn’t quite the same thing).

FORMATT  (Fear of repetitive meetings all the time)

You may already be living through this hell if you work for a living.

FOOEYS (Fear of outsiders eating your sandwich)

Those who know me know that this really only applies to  me because I make really good sandwiches.

Good luck managing your way through FOMO and any other “FO’s” you might be experiencing.  And remember, for every person out there who you think is having more fun, there are two more who are sure you’re having waaaay more fun than they are.