Thursday Thoughts

Without tradition, art is a flock of sheep without a shepherd. Without innovation, it is a corpse.
Winston Churchill

Innovation distinguishes between a leader and a follower.
Steve Job

Mindless habitual behavior is the enemy of innovation.
Rosabeth Moss Kanter

Football survey

Reflection

I was privileged to spend the past week at Hollyhock on Cortes Island in BC. The "Web of Change" conference was the purpose for going but the location, retreat and delicious vegetarian cuisine are what I will remember. After a bit of a long journey, we arrived at supper time to a sumptuous buffet and beautiful sunshine creating prisms on the Georgia Strait. The calm and quiet let us sleep for almost 12 hours the first night and that set the tone for the next 5 days. The conference was quite 'techie' and while I am not a technophobe I don't have a clue about drupal or AX, CRM or HFM. There were some amazing contacts made within the 100+ participants and a new friend from one of the non conference guests.
I will discuss some of the learnings in other posts but I am reflecting today on how fragile our experiences can be. We boarded a flight last night in Victoria and before takeoff a passenger went into cardiac arrest. It took more than 20 minutes for EMS to arrive and three passengers and the Westjet staff used CPR to bring him back at least twice. The EMS response time seems ridiculous (yes, WJ, Transport Canada, and VIctoris International are all getting letters) but the staff and passenger response was amazing. I couldn't help thinking that the patient hadn't expected the attack, was probably planning his next day, and maybe hadn't shared his feelings, concerns or hopes with someone for a long time.
Strange that I may be changed more by the incident than a well planned and executed change conference.

New Survey

#8 Passion List

List your top 5 passions. Now that you've given various factors some thought, and tried some online tools, make a short list of your top 5 passions. If you don't have 5, list as many as you have. Then compare your top 5 passions, and rank them from top to bottom. This will be the starting point your guide to making your dream a reality.

Are you passionate about justice? Check out a human rights or civil libery group. Are you passionate about children? Help teach, feed or care for kids.
Are you passionate about literacy? Find opportunities with a mentor group or library.
Are you passionate about the environment? politics? people? freedom? democracy?

As i have said many times before - Follow Your Passion

Discover (7)

I don't have anything to add to Jay White's seventh point in 22 Secrets

7. Try online tools. There are some great tools online for helping you find your purpose. Here are just a few of my favorites:

43 Things: A great way to see what goals others have, to list your own goals, to talk to others about common goals, to get ideas and inspiration. Also see their article, How to Choose Achievable Goals.


Dreamminder. A site where you write down your dream, and it will send it to you at some point in the future. Use their dream wizard to discover your dream. Read the dreams of others to get inspired.


One Question: Take a test with questions to figure out your one purpose in life. With articles to help as well.