The arts of man through all the years, and the light that guides us all.

The following is the original and the rewrite can be found by clicking here.

I did a very "city thing" on the weekend and went to the museum. I've been there many times before, but this is the first time since I started my "city living experiment"; it seemed my new city perspective guided me differently as I walked the halls.

In the past, I tended to find myself staring at the bones of giant creatures that inhabited the earth hundreds of millions of years ago, imaging their ferocity and wondering if I could out run them if the need arose. This time however, I seemed to wander the years a little closer to home... 4000 BC to 300 AD. Sumeria, Mesopotamia, Egypt, Greece, Ancient Israel, Rome - All great civilizations of the past.

Artifacts, instead of bones, would tell the story and feed the imagination; mosaics, pottery, glass, fine jewelry, paintings, sculptures, architecture, tools and weapons, as well as all of the utensils, furniture and trappings of every day life... all recognizable, and narratives for those kindred spirits through all the years.

For me, it was the simplest of things that ignited my imagination... the numerous examples of "oil lamps" that seemed to fill the display cases, irrespective of civilization or century; small containers of various shapes and ornateness that used animal fat to illuminate the world.  

I could not help but imagine someone 4000 years ago, their oil lamp by their side pushing back the darkness as they wrote down their thoughts, crafted something of importance, shared ideas or visualized their dreams and wishes for a better day - A symbol that bound them, independent of time or place.

Engraved on the outside of the Royal Ontario Museum are the words, "THE ARTS OF MAN THROVGH ALL THE YEARS", which shamefully I had never noticed before, but will not soon forget. These words remind us that we are part of a community that has stretched past our ability to remember the countless individuals that came before us, except of course, though those "ARTS" they created and used; it is in this, their legacy seems to be secure.

Literally or figuratively we must light that lamp, push back the darkness and write down our thoughts, craft things of importance, share ideas or visualize the dreams and wishes for a better day - An ongoing need to contribute to "THE ARTS OF MAN", as someone, 2000 years from now, will be looking and imaging us in the darkness with the light of the computer on our faces.

Next week, a trip to the art gallery.

iamgpe.

"Give me a chance and I will show you"... wait, that's not it.

The following is the original and the rewrite can be found by clicking here.

This may ultimately just become a semantical mess, but hey, let's just take a bit of a chance here and see what we get - And no, the irony will not be lost on me.

 A while back I was reminded of the time a group of colleagues and myself became involved in a hearty discussion regarding the saying, "Give me a chance and I will show you" (or its various iterations) that ask you to do something despite an uncertain outcome or unpredictable result... all based on an "unknown reassurance that it will all work out".  As the discussion finally came to an end, the consensus around the table seemed to be that the saying was simply backwards, and should be, "If I show you, can you give me a chance".

Wordsmithing the original saying inherently minimized risk, addressed the air of entitlement that sometimes can come with the request, and illustrates a proactiveness required when asking someone to make a decision that involves chance. We parted ways comfortable in the knowledge that yet again we had solved one of the worlds more challenging problems.

But the question now becomes, "What does 'If I show you, can you give me a chance' look like?" You can't simply walk away from the table with a smug, knowing air of satisfaction and not tell anyone... well I guess you can, but that really isn't very constructive.

• Understand the chances you are looking for - There are an infinite number of chances in this big ol' world of ours available to you, so to be practical, you need to narrow down the ones you are interested in.
• Understand your competencies - In its simplest form, this refers to your ability to do something successfully or efficiently. Effective written communication is an easy example.
•  Alignment of your competencies with the chances you may be looking for and vice versa - This will allow you to identify competency gaps that may impact your ability to be given a chance or even identify chances your current competencies my afford you. As an example, if you want to be given the chance to start a career in sales these are the competencies you would need to develop or show an aptitude towards... increasing your "ability to be given a chance"
  • Planning
  • Territory/Customer Management
  • Selling Skills and Knowledge
  • Product Knowledge
  • System Knowledge
  • Business Cadence
  • Business Acumen
  • Financial Performance  
• Develop the competencies that will afford you the chances you are looking for - Many competencies will be common to many types of chances but some my be very specific, which comes back to understanding the chances you are looking for.

And finally, with the competency foundations set, the aspect of illustration or "If I show you" can come into play, which is, more than any other time in history, easy to set in motion - Thank you Internet:

• Want to illustrate your understanding of concepts and competencies write a blog.
• Want to illustrate your ability to communicate and show leadership create a video blog series.
• What to illustrate your personal brand, concepts of planning and execution, develop a web site and utilize the appropriate social media channels to illustrate your competencies.
• Take on projects outside your current roles and responsibilities or join a charity to develop needed competencies, as well as develop content for your above activities.

And if you are not sure how to get started, just "Google it" or go to YouTube and watch all kinds of people illustrating their competencies.

Reducing the "unknown reassurance that it will all work out" comes with showing your competencies up front and it's also a tangible illustration you can make things happen - And that's what people really want when they give someone a chance.

iamgpe

"You need to put some more paint on the canvas..."

The following is the original and the rewrite can be found by clicking here.

I recently had a conversation with a seasoned business professional and our discussion found itself weaving to leadership; which often happens and rightfully so. 

As part of the conversation he mentioned that he rarely says "no" but rather likes to say, "You need to put some more paint on the canvas". I could not help but smile when he said this - It is such great saying; rich with important meaning.

The point to be made here is not about a crafty way of avoiding the word "no" or delaying a decision, but rather the recognition that a "picture needs to be painted" before you can ever utter the word "no" (or "yes" for that matter), and that sometimes the picture just isn't finished. 

Simplistically speaking, leaders would like to be able to say "no, don't do it" or "yes, do it", but more often than not they find themselves needing more information or "a better picture" before they are able to, with good conscience, say "yes or no". 

Of course there are situations where the "obvious" prevails and an answer of "yes" or "no" is a proverbial "no brainer", but more often than not, information, background, and justification in the form of a good ol' solid business case is needed, which metaphorically speaking, is a canvas. 

And to carry the metaphor further, as an artist you need to remember:

• You want to paint the best picture you can - That is to say you want to communicate effectively, provide the appropriate information for understanding the Who, What, Where, When and Why of the situation and support the decision making process.
• Not all canvases are the same size - In other words, depending on the situation, the information needed to support decisions may be different or varying in depth; all based on business impact, timing, risk, return and the personalities involved.
• Be the best artist you can - Seems self explanatory
• Everyone is an art critic - You may have painted a wonderful picture of the situation but there may be someone who wants it to be "just a little better"... alas, it falls on the artist to give them what they want. More often than not though, it will make you a better artist.
• Not everyone will like the same art you do - Although you may have painted a wonderful picture, for business, strategic, core value, or other not so clear reasons, the company just isn't going to hang your painting on the wall. The upside... you at least know the answer.

So there you have it; what can come out of a great conversation...metaphors and all. 

As an aside, the unfinished painting shown is the "Signing of the Treaty of Paris" by Benjamin West that depicted the signing of the treaty that put an end to the American Revolution and formally recognized the United States as an independent nation. A beautiful painting to be sure.

iamgpe