"...in a moment of youthful indiscretion, I went to law school." - Daniel Pink
I am often inspired by TED Talks. I realize there is a trend for TED bashing and I occasionally participate in such things. I also find that while I disagree with some of what TED has become, I think that the individuals who share their stories and then post them for free are often inspiring and help me re-think. One of these is Daniel Pink's "The Surprising Science of Motivation." This talk makes a case for redefining work, management, and problem solving.
I struggle with management. I am a manager and I despise behaving in managerial ways. I am not a fan of "carrots and sticks" thinking. Much of my success in my career has come as a result of pursuing interests that I would pursue regardless if there was a paycheque or dividend attached. I have been fortunate enough to be able to monetize this kind of behaviour and break out of the mould of "work" that I used to have to do.
Pink's talk reminded me of a great book I once read called "First, Break All the Rules." After I read it, I changed many of the ways I lead. What was interesting was I began to get criticized for being too nice or too soft on those I was leading. Amusingly, even though I was easy-going, work got done, work happened just as fast or slow as it would if I had behaved differently, and I was less stressed out, less contemptuous, and less managerial (with all its negative connotations). Self-serving? Perhaps. I also believe that nobody can be responsible for your happiness, only you can.
So, what is Daniel Pink's big idea? I will summarize what I think he is saying. In today's knowledge economy, extrinsic motivators (carrots and sticks) are less effective than intrinsic motivators (internal drivers like passion and engagement). We are no longer a society of assembly line workers, we are paid to use cognitive skills, and the moment cognitive challenges are introduced to a problem, the efficacy of extrinsic motivators evaporates.
So, what do we do? How do we motivate people? Make sure you have the right people doing the right jobs (figure out what they care deeply about and get them to do that), give them the tools to get the job done without distraction, and get out of their way.
Daniel Pink's ideas reminded me of David Carson's TED Talks answer to the question, "what's definition of a good job?" The answer, his favourite, "if money didn't matter, would you continue doing what you are doing? If you would, you've got a great job. If you wouldn't, then rethink what you are doing because you're going to be doing it for a long time."
Lastly, all of this connects nicely to Nick Nissley's talk at the recent TEDxCalgary. His talked focused on an idea he has termed "narrative leadership." This is the notion that great leaders tell great stories. How these stories are told and what kind of vision they inspire can determine what outcomes are more likely. His example was the term "at risk" in the context of disenfranchised youth. The story of someone "at risk" is to say that they are always on the brink of disaster. Instead, what if the story was about youth "at potential." To tell the story of someone who is "at potential" is the story of someone who might fail once or twice, but because they are have potential, it only makes sense that, in this story, they would continue to realize that potential.
Daniel Pink's Talk - http://blog.ted.com/2009/08/the_surprising.php
David Carson - http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/david_carson_on_design.html
Nick Nissley - http://www.banffcentre.ca/departments/leadership/faculty/nick_nissley.asp
Monday, May 10, 2010
Sunday, May 09, 2010
Growth
"Keep away from people who try to belittle your ambitions. Small people always do that, but the really great make you feel that you too can become great." - Mark Twain
I have a friend who is going through a struggle. Her family is more than happy to belittle her ambitions. What a sad thing when your own family can't offer the safe haven from the trials of the world. I have been blessed to have a family who supported me even though some of my choices have been hugely risky and beyond what most would expect a profoundly hard of hearing person to tackle.
Growing up, the idea that I was somehow not the same as all the other little kids in the playground simply didn't happen. In every way I was exactly the same. My only difference was the fact that only heard 20% of what others heard without my hearing aids and with them, I could hear 80% or so, but the missing 20% happened to be the sound frequencies of consonants, birds, high pitched sirens, watch alarms, and really bad speakers. I lived (and still do) in a world of vowels. Imagine a world where everyone talking to you sounded like they had a dental dam in their mouth. Perhaps I should've been a dentist... :)
What amazes me is that, for me, my options and opportunities were limitless. I dreamed of being an astronaut. My family didn't say, "Oh, Owen, you are hard of hearing, you can't EVER be an astronaut." Heck no. My dad packaged up my drawing and designs for a spaceship inspired by SPACE:1999 and sent them off to NASA. We were all stunned when NASA sent back a GIANT package of posters, information cards, and a personal letter encouraging me to continue my studies, work hard and I could be a part of the space program one day. They didn't know I was hard of hearing. All they knew was I was a kid who had a dream and the last thing they were going to do was crush it.
This is why I am saddened when I hear stories about people putting limits on each other. For me, family is supposed to be the safety net that catches you when you fly too close to the sun. For me, family is there to celebrate your victories and help you recover from your wounds.
My kids watched Forrest Gump the other night for the first time. I was reminded what made that movie great. The relationship between Forrest and Jenny is beautiful on many levels. For me, the unconditional love between them make my heart swell. This is what family is. Isn't the world harsh enough? Don't we owe it to each other to just be that safety net?
The next time someone tells me they are going to do something crazy, I will tell them that they absolutely can do it and if it doesn't work out, I will be here for them. I guess that's what Twain was talking about. Why tell a couple of brothers they can't fly rather than cheering them on? Why tell a hard of hearing kid he can't be an astronaut when you can send him a big package of posters and information cards? Why limit someone when you can help them become who they dream to be?
I always tell people, when I am trying to explain empathy, that everyone is a hero in their own story. The next step is to become the hero in someone else's story. When you support, encourage, cajole, cheer or celebrate someone you care about, you take the first step to being a hero in their story. You begin an upward spiral, and you become truly great.
I have a friend who is going through a struggle. Her family is more than happy to belittle her ambitions. What a sad thing when your own family can't offer the safe haven from the trials of the world. I have been blessed to have a family who supported me even though some of my choices have been hugely risky and beyond what most would expect a profoundly hard of hearing person to tackle.
Growing up, the idea that I was somehow not the same as all the other little kids in the playground simply didn't happen. In every way I was exactly the same. My only difference was the fact that only heard 20% of what others heard without my hearing aids and with them, I could hear 80% or so, but the missing 20% happened to be the sound frequencies of consonants, birds, high pitched sirens, watch alarms, and really bad speakers. I lived (and still do) in a world of vowels. Imagine a world where everyone talking to you sounded like they had a dental dam in their mouth. Perhaps I should've been a dentist... :)
What amazes me is that, for me, my options and opportunities were limitless. I dreamed of being an astronaut. My family didn't say, "Oh, Owen, you are hard of hearing, you can't EVER be an astronaut." Heck no. My dad packaged up my drawing and designs for a spaceship inspired by SPACE:1999 and sent them off to NASA. We were all stunned when NASA sent back a GIANT package of posters, information cards, and a personal letter encouraging me to continue my studies, work hard and I could be a part of the space program one day. They didn't know I was hard of hearing. All they knew was I was a kid who had a dream and the last thing they were going to do was crush it.
This is why I am saddened when I hear stories about people putting limits on each other. For me, family is supposed to be the safety net that catches you when you fly too close to the sun. For me, family is there to celebrate your victories and help you recover from your wounds.
My kids watched Forrest Gump the other night for the first time. I was reminded what made that movie great. The relationship between Forrest and Jenny is beautiful on many levels. For me, the unconditional love between them make my heart swell. This is what family is. Isn't the world harsh enough? Don't we owe it to each other to just be that safety net?
The next time someone tells me they are going to do something crazy, I will tell them that they absolutely can do it and if it doesn't work out, I will be here for them. I guess that's what Twain was talking about. Why tell a couple of brothers they can't fly rather than cheering them on? Why tell a hard of hearing kid he can't be an astronaut when you can send him a big package of posters and information cards? Why limit someone when you can help them become who they dream to be?
I always tell people, when I am trying to explain empathy, that everyone is a hero in their own story. The next step is to become the hero in someone else's story. When you support, encourage, cajole, cheer or celebrate someone you care about, you take the first step to being a hero in their story. You begin an upward spiral, and you become truly great.
Thursday, May 06, 2010
Games as theatre.
Games have always, for me, been a great way to tell a story. What's interesting, is how gaming naturally gravitates to archetypes that can be traced all the way back to ancient forms of theatre like commedia dell'arte. Characters that we expect to see in every form of entertainment can trace their origins back to the archetypes echoed in commedia. And rightly so. Readers of Joseph Campbell will often find themselves seeing the same stories played out over and over across the history of humankind.
What's wonderful about the commedia is that it was improvised. Characters had lazzi that they would perform, but depending on the city or town they were performing in, the various characters would take on protagonist or antagonist nuances. If a town was sympathetic to the plight of il dottore de bologna, then he would be the bumbling kind-hearted professor, who stumbles in at the right moment to save the heroine, or if the troupe was performing elsewhere, the good doctor would become the accomplice of the nefarious Pantalone.
This is where gaming offers some wonderful opportunities to explore this notion of character perspective. Depending on who and how you choose to play, you can immerse yourself in the empathetic perspective of the characters who might otherwise be seen as villains. Sports is very much like this. Edmonton hockey fans have seen their dream team go from top of the heap to the role of underdog. This perspective is very different for native Calgarians who have always seen the Oilers as the evil empire that must be toppled. Who is "right." That all depends. Where are you from?
As an actor, I have had to play characters whose perspective I did not share. It was my job to figure, understand, and empathize with that character. This is a very intense and world-altering thing. What did I get from those experiences? I realized that everything is not as it seems. Good guys are sometimes not all good, and bad guys are sometimes not all bad. I learned that people do horrible things because they think they are doing the right thing. For me, in life, I have learned to let the story play out a little before I begin to form alliances and take sides. It isn't easy, but patience is great for revealing things are otherwise hidden.
Games play an important role, for me, in offering everyone an opportunity to discover the same things I did as an actor. What I would like to see is the game storytellers begin to bring this richness to their work. The Sith are not necessarily evil. It's a matter of perspective. The Jedi are not necessarily good. What if a game featured a Jedi suicide bomber... what if...
What's wonderful about the commedia is that it was improvised. Characters had lazzi that they would perform, but depending on the city or town they were performing in, the various characters would take on protagonist or antagonist nuances. If a town was sympathetic to the plight of il dottore de bologna, then he would be the bumbling kind-hearted professor, who stumbles in at the right moment to save the heroine, or if the troupe was performing elsewhere, the good doctor would become the accomplice of the nefarious Pantalone.
This is where gaming offers some wonderful opportunities to explore this notion of character perspective. Depending on who and how you choose to play, you can immerse yourself in the empathetic perspective of the characters who might otherwise be seen as villains. Sports is very much like this. Edmonton hockey fans have seen their dream team go from top of the heap to the role of underdog. This perspective is very different for native Calgarians who have always seen the Oilers as the evil empire that must be toppled. Who is "right." That all depends. Where are you from?
As an actor, I have had to play characters whose perspective I did not share. It was my job to figure, understand, and empathize with that character. This is a very intense and world-altering thing. What did I get from those experiences? I realized that everything is not as it seems. Good guys are sometimes not all good, and bad guys are sometimes not all bad. I learned that people do horrible things because they think they are doing the right thing. For me, in life, I have learned to let the story play out a little before I begin to form alliances and take sides. It isn't easy, but patience is great for revealing things are otherwise hidden.
Games play an important role, for me, in offering everyone an opportunity to discover the same things I did as an actor. What I would like to see is the game storytellers begin to bring this richness to their work. The Sith are not necessarily evil. It's a matter of perspective. The Jedi are not necessarily good. What if a game featured a Jedi suicide bomber... what if...
From the ashes...
Well now, never say never. I am officially returning to this blog, and you can thank Empire Avenue for that.
It was really more practical than anything. I enjoy blogging and post on my company's blog (http://www.gurudigitalarts.org) but I don't really have a personal outlet, and it is time that the stuff that I want to personally share is presented separately from Guru's blog. Not to say that the tone of the blog at Guru will change. It's just nice to have a place for more personal perspectives.
That said, I am returning to this blog and all its stuff. I plan to keep to the theme of the thespian perspective, mainly because it is where I tend to bring my thoughts from. I start from the "when I was in theatre" and connect that perspective to whatever I am doing now.
I am working with understanding motivation and what makes people do what they do. I often say, "people are the hero in their own story." I think this is what leads to conflict and tension. One person thinks they are doing the right thing, another person thinks that too. When they realize the things they are doing don't fit together, we get tension and conflict. Simple right?
There is a great deal of talk about empathy. Do people really know what that means? Are people truly empathetic? Empathy can lead to a complete reversal of strategy. Are companies really prepared to do that? Perhaps the courageous ones are.
Empathy is a bit thing, I want to write more on this...
It was really more practical than anything. I enjoy blogging and post on my company's blog (http://www.gurudigitalarts.org) but I don't really have a personal outlet, and it is time that the stuff that I want to personally share is presented separately from Guru's blog. Not to say that the tone of the blog at Guru will change. It's just nice to have a place for more personal perspectives.
That said, I am returning to this blog and all its stuff. I plan to keep to the theme of the thespian perspective, mainly because it is where I tend to bring my thoughts from. I start from the "when I was in theatre" and connect that perspective to whatever I am doing now.
I am working with understanding motivation and what makes people do what they do. I often say, "people are the hero in their own story." I think this is what leads to conflict and tension. One person thinks they are doing the right thing, another person thinks that too. When they realize the things they are doing don't fit together, we get tension and conflict. Simple right?
There is a great deal of talk about empathy. Do people really know what that means? Are people truly empathetic? Empathy can lead to a complete reversal of strategy. Are companies really prepared to do that? Perhaps the courageous ones are.
Empathy is a bit thing, I want to write more on this...
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