« Risk takers doing great things! | Main | Tie a string around your finger »

October 18, 2007

Posted by Shawn Wheeler, Blog Team, at 9:16 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

Keynotes are often interesting at best said with a smirk on my face. You never quite know what you are going to hear and worse, you are not sure you will like it. Not the case today as I listened to Lyn Heward from famed Cirque Du Soleil. Now, I must confess, I love the Cirque shows but I did wonder what her keynote would have to do with education. What I walked away with was nothing short of Cirque Du Soleil. You see, one of the most enjoyable aspects of a Cirque show is the wow factor. Not from the point of view of the performers who are spectacular, but show, as they are designed completely out of the box. Personally, this is what I took away from Lyn’s speech today. Note: As I editorialize, I was not able to hear her closing remarks.

5 Doors…
Door Number 1. Great expectation
Door Number 2. Surrender to your senses, develop your intuitive instincts.
Door Number 3. Treasure hunting and creative transformation
Door Number 4. The nurturing environment
Door Number 5. How constraints challenge differences and consumer expectations become creation catalysts.

Looking at this list, some of the items make perfect sense while others, make you wish you were there so you could have heard it first ear.

Great Expectations… Of course, we all strive to meet our goals. Why would anyone create a goal which is low? But what about surrendering to your senses and developing your intuitive instincts? If you are reading this, chances are you do this daily. Think about how many times you hear that little voice or have that gut feeling. Don’t force it down, free it, listen to it. There is no greatness without risk.

Treasure hunting and creative transformation. Who are you? Who is around us? What are our talents as well as theirs? As a leader, you need to seek out talented people and some of those people are in our current organization. But don’t tell them what they are good at, make opportunities for their talent to shine through on its own.
Of course Door number 3 will never work without a nurturing environment. Create opportunities for staff and students to take risk. Maintain an environment where failure is nothing more than an opportunity to try something again in a different way. Just ask the creator of the Post it Note!

Finally Door number 5, how constraints challenge differences and consumer expectations become creation catalysts. We are all faced with funding challenges and these challenges are all the more reason to think outside of the box and find a way to achieve our goals and meet the expectations of our communities.

Unfortunately, I had to go setup at my presentation at this point but I walked out of that hall smiling and thinking this is just the type of environment I want to work in and when I get home, I am going to work to create that environment.

Trackback Pings

TrackBack URL for this entry: http://boardbuzz.nsba.org/cgi-bin/mt/mt-tb.cgi/7907