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| Newsletter "From the Heart" |
| Innovate or Die | Moms Mabley, the rather risqué Black comedian from the earlier days of comedy said, “If you always do what you always did, you always get what you always got.” She was funny and sharp and I believe she knew how profound that statement was when she said it. I also heard that always doing the same thing and expecting different results was the definition of insanity. When the going gets tough, the tough need to get creative. I can’t remember when I first heard the phrase, “Innovate or die,” but we need to do something different to get the world back on track. OK, I know what you’re thinking, “How does he expect me to fix the problems?” Well, start with your own.
Paul Harvey who just passed away had a saying in the ‘70’s during the financial difficulties then that went: “Recessions reteach resourcefulness.” Creativity and new thinking are what is needed to solve any issue we face. I remember being in a seminar given by a financial genius back in 2001 saying we needed more creativity. “And what,” he asked “drives creativity?” A lot of ideas started flying through my mind when he interrupted my train of thought with his one word answer, “Greed!” I happened to be sitting next to him as he spoke because it was the last seat available when I came into the room. A man I knew sponsored the meeting so I didn’t stand up and ask him if he was out of his mind and where did he get off raising greed to a virtue? Unfortunately we’ve all seen and suffered from that virtue. Can you say, “What the Bleep happened to my 401K?”
There are fringe benefits to certain disorders along with the usual drawbacks. In June I will have been in this line of work 40 years and have worked with many people diagnosed with Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder (ADHD) so you’d think I might have insight into that issue. It wasn’t until I was a mentor to a really smart young man for ninth-grade confirmation that I had a flash of insight. He said he was ADD – no “H,” or hyperactive part. I saw how similarly we thought and I went home that night and said to Audrey, “You know, I wonder if I’m ADD?” And she said, “You think!?!” It explained a lot. I thought I could just see everything at once. And I never met a tangent I didn’t love. And it also explained my trouble with teachers, bosses and authority figures in general. Blurting things out is a symptom of ADD and I always figured I must have lost my discretion with my appendix.
Getting back to seeing everything at once, I see connections all over the place and problem solving has generally come easy because I see so many things to choose from. Yesterday Trinity, the Alaskan Malamute that runs our family, ate a bowl of grapes we left out on the counter. So we had to give her hydrogen peroxide so she could send them back to us – 52 grapes, a chunk of wood, her breakfast and 3 unidentified gross objects. Then the vet said we needed to bring in a urine sample, which posed an opportunity for creativity. I ended up with a long bar-b-q tongs with a margarine tub taped at the end. And this morning I felt like an old ushers at the Catholic Church in Spooner with the collection basket on the end of long pole pursuing the illusive second collection for the building fund. Trinity is a long-haired Malamute so I couldn’t tell exactly where to position the contraption, but after 27 attempts I had enough to bring to the vet. I’m glad no one taped us.
OK, so I didn’t fix the economy this morning or free us from foreign oil, but I used existing resources and someone might think I’m green (or a pale shade thereof) in my approach. Moms Mabley would be impressed.
So tell me:
What creative ideas have you had lately?
How did you put them to work?
How could you innovate for yourself?
What gifts do you bring to the equation?
Get back to me and let me know your answers.
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This has been something "From the Heart" Vol. 9 # 1 © 2009
Dave Aardappel, Alpha Coach
920 451-0255
DaveAardappel@alpha-coach.com
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Challenge: Do an analysis of your financial situation. If you need help check with your nearest Consumer Credit Counseling Service which is a member of the National Foundation for Credit Counseling. They are the best non-profit agencies that really have your best interest at heart.
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Totally Useless Trivia Question of the Week: What was the only weapon that could kill the aliens who were invading earth in the movie, “Out There?”
Totally Useless Answer to last time's Useless Question: What town recently in the news is the Duct Tape Capital of the World? None other than Sarah Palin’s own Wasilla Alaska! Yup, rode the train through there last year on our way to Denali Park.
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Give a friend a free gift by having them sign up for my newsletter by clicking: www.alpha-coach.com/signup.asp.
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Coaching is helping you discover your creativity and innovation.
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I am available as a professional speaker and can build seminars and workshops for you on many topics like, "How Do I survive in this Environment?” Just respond to this e-mail and I will take good care of you!
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