What's in your toolbox?
Gavin and I had an interesting conversation on Twitter last night.
In one of my tweets I said that I considered myself a layman in everything I do. Even the things I get paid handsomely to do.
He expressed surprise at this remark.
To which I said that if Brian Eno can maintain his status as a non-musician, then I should be able to always be a layman.
It's sometimes hard to get a lengthy point across in Twitter, given you have to do it in just 140 characters.
But what I was trying to say was that I consider myself to be continually learning.
This mindset is important to me because I have met too many people during my career who seem to be the opposite of the way I see myself.
Experts. Seniors. Management. You know the type.
When I made the Brian Eno tweet Gavin tweeted back to ask if I considered Brian Eno as an expert/leader?
I said to Gavin that I look to Eno in the same way I look to many innovators in other fields.
The fact these people are in a different field to myself makes what they do and how they do it even more interesting to me.
I have done much in my career that has been inspired at some time or other by thinking from other industries or fields.
It's what I call adding to the toolbox.
I started out many years ago with just a box of spanners. After a lifetime of work I have a bigger toolkit than a roadside assistance van. And I am still adding to my collection.
posted by Stan Lee at 11:13 pm
9 Comments:
Great perspective, Stan, and I appreciate posts that recognize Eno's gifts.
Along the same lines, Zen master Shunryu Suzuki said, "In the beginner's mind there are many possibilities, in the expert's mind there are few."
Hey Stan, maybe putting some tools in that wooden toolbox would help ;)
It is a good perspective, anyone who thinks they are “above it” and know everything obviously isn’t and positions themselves to make up for their shortfalls.
I also think that those who don’t conduct themselves like that are the true passionate ones because they want to keep learning and understand that things change quickly and can’t wait to see how it will all work and how we can apply it.
Great point Stan. Too few 'senior managers' think this way. Shame
ahhh grasshopper stan, we are all just little um grasshoppers. Or something.
Nice point. On the expert/leadership issue: IMHO it is not what you call yourself that makes you an expert or a leader, but what others call you. The "leaders" I look up to are the ones who refresh my thinking and help me give direction to my own thoughts.
Further to your point David, how you see yourself is just a question of humility.
If I think I know everything, that doesn't mean I'm an expert. Or even a beginner thinking he's an expert. I'm just someone who thinks they're cooler than thou.
Objectively, everyone's always learning. You can't stop, even if you try. Perpetual thought ruins that.
But to operate at the level that Eno operates, when you do your precious learning, you've got to do some serious Citizen Kane sized learning. Maybe produce some world-changing ideas while you're at it.
We're all learning, whether or not we think we are. But how big are we learning? And can we stir up some amazing shit while we're at it?
I think we were talking / twittering at cross-purposes ;)
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