Friday 5 May 2017

May 5, 2017 Chautauqua



 
Beth's Ponderings

   I’m sure you’ve heard the expression “think outside the box,” and may have even been challenged to do just that in a job or organizational setting, or maybe even in your personal life.

   How successful were you in that endeavour, really?

   While we can all benefit from getting out of our various “ruts” - whatever form they may appear in, getting “out of the box” isn’t beneficial to us at all.  We’d be further ahead to crawl deeper into the box.

   A panorama view takes our breath away at its majestic beauty, and knowing the big picture, North Star, or “forest,” will help us to navigate, but to really see things differently and move forward in creative ways we need to limit our view dramatically.

   Think about it, it isn’t the forest that moves you as much as the tiny drop of dew glistening on one individual little leaf on one tree.  In other words, it is the things right immediately in front of us, things that we can touch, rather than what’s in our view, yet completely out of reach.

   Artists and photographers know that it isn’t what is OUTSIDE the frame that creates the power of the picture...it is what is inside the frame.  The frame provides a limit, or boundary, yet at the same time it provides endless freedom as you can focus on whatever you want within that frame, and what you choose to focus on will achieve importance.

   The best writers, speakers, and other creative types also apply this principle.  They don’t tell you everything they know, or want to share, they limit it down to one thought or theme, increasing its overall impact.

   The inventions that have had the greatest impact on our lives have been items that dealt with processes we use every day, and objects we hold in our hands.    

   In order to make changes and bring something new to your organization, job, or life, you just need to look at what is immediately around you and decide what one item, or area, you want to focus on.  By bringing your focus down to the tangible and visible, instead of trying to create something new out of the nebulous, you will be able to create something lasting, memorable, and more than likely more applicable to your situation, than anything you’ll find in the vast “outside.”

Beth
 
Read the complete issue of The Chautauqua here: https://sites.google.com/site/thechautauqua22/home/May%205%2C%202017%20Chautauqua2.pdf?attredirects=0&d=1

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