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Posts Tagged ‘Washington DC’

Being in context

May 28th, 2009
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Perhaps you’ll remember a story from a couple of years ago in the Washington Post about internationally acclaimed virtuoso violinist Joshua Bell. The Post put Bell in a Washington DC Metro station to play his Stradivarius for the passers-by during a 43 minute period.

It was 7:51 a.m. on Friday, January 12, the middle of the morning rush hour. In the next 43 minutes, as the violinist performed six classical pieces, 1,097 people passed by. Almost all of them were on the way to work…

Bell received donations amounting to $52.17 for his venture.

Watching the video weeks later, Bell finds himself mystified by one thing only. He understands why he’s not drawing a crowd, in the rush of a morning workday. But: “I’m surprised at the number of people who don’t pay attention at all, as if I’m invisible. Because, you know what? I’m makin’ a lot of noise!”

If you’re curious, here’s a link to Bell’s full performance. I love Bell’s playing, and have a bit of cognitive dissonance hearing the background noise. It’s playing in the background as I write this post. I was reminded of The Post’s story by a few random, passing incidents where people seemed a bit out of their element.

Coaching moment: Have you ever been in a meeting or part of a conversation where you felt that you weren’t being heard? Or that you were in a job that wasn’t right for you but you didn’t know how to escape or what a better job might be? Or that you were in the right place at the wrong time, or wrong time and place altogether? Yeah, you’re not alone.

Lacking proper training, connections, and insights about who we are or how to connect with our right livelihood, most of us do the best we can to identify our strengths and make the most of who we are. That’s good and bad. Once we think we know who we are, we have set our context in a way that may be hard to break out of.

The future holds a different story for us. Jobs and opportunities will develop in ways we could not dream of today. I’m reminded of a line from a Star Trek episode when Captain Picard is asked what people do with themselves in the 24th Century. “The challenge [...] is to improve yourself… to enrich yourself. Enjoy it.“

If you could write a new story for yourself–in a new time and place–what would your life be like?

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Change is Coming

January 5th, 2009
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A couple of years ago, the original “Did You Know” video (this is the updated version) got me thinking about some of the changes that are coming to my world.

The magnitude of change that we’re likely to see in the next decade is enormous.

Coaching moment: Most of us have a hard time seeing the future. For all the changes in technology, nobody has invented a magic crystal ball yet. Our public media looks backward at what happened in the world. History has taught many of us, and we are rightly skeptical, about pundits that claim to know and see the future (and will share it with you–for a price.) What facts back their claims? Do you believe those facts? Are there any contradicting facts?

Despite the lack of a crystal ball, we will be affected by things happening in the future.

In times of change and uncertainty, I believe that it’s wise to do some planning. On the minimal side, sit down for a few minutes and think about your priorities. What is the most important thing in your life? Second most? Third? Talk with your family about their priorities. (You might be surprised to discover they don’t match your list exactly.) Next: what plans can you make to ensure the safety and security of your top priorities? What threats should you watch for?

Want to know more about possible changes on the horizon? Here’s a link to one man’s perspective: Chris Martenson’s Crash Course. He illustrates how changes may be pretty radical!

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