As I close down this last five years of care taking and gear up to get back to work and my own life, I stumbled upon an old video that summarizes some of the principles that I'll be focusing on--development for a better world, rather than perpetrating bad development practice.
The Story of Stuff, if you have never seen it is so beautifully put together.
Anyone can get it! I, joyfully, discovered that they have added a number of new videos in case you haven't seen them.
https://lnkd.in/gEQgeRPdhttps://lnkd.in/gKWmbiwH
Are you ready to shift your perspective on failure?! Join ‘The Improver’ community on substack for personal growth tips, my raw transparency, and motivational stories!
Today...courtesy of #chatgpt a new acronym for FAILURE.
F - First
A - Attempt
I - In
L - Learning
U - Under
R - Realistic
E - Expectations
Remember - "Excuses will always be there, opportunity wont."
Check it out at https://lnkd.in/e5DDQi9v and let me know what you think.
#perspective#failure#success#article#writing#feedback#growthmindset
Attention-grabbing one-liner (counterintuitive, controversial, or ragebait).
Negative space.
Recycled copypasta or BS story time. Pander, pander, pander: underdog good, status quo bad. Wow, unexpected success!
Whiff of common sense. Meaningless call to action.
Question?
(Optional: Plug for a course or service.)
Great post from Bruno Giussani!
I think we all can find our own monkey and pedestal comparison within each of our respective industries, but it requires the first step of trying to seek such examples within our own lives/professional worlds.
This can take a level of awareness, both internal and external, that's often easily forgotten as a key ingredient to meaningful development, innovation, and ultimately positive change and growth.
Here are what I think are my current monkey and pedestal below.
Pedestal: Certificate/Compliance tracking software
Monkey: Question, understand, and seek to fix the intersection, or lack thereof, between tech and industries with manually repeatable processes and workflows such as insurance and overall compliance
What are some of yours?
Writer, Curator, Experimenter
(Previously TED, Countdown, Stanford U, World Economic Forum, New York Times, FIFDH, CERN, ForumDes100, Swiss & international press)
FIRST, TRAIN THE MONKEY
Lately, in discussions and readings, I keep bumping into the "monkey on the pedestal" story. It got me thinking about my own projects: Am I focusing on the right things?
If you’ve never heard of it, it’s an absurdist but helpful mental model about solving problems. It originated inside Google’s thinking hub, called X (which existed long before the renaming of Twitter into the same letter). Here is the original post: https://lnkd.in/emtUPk5x
It goes roughly like this: Imagine that you have to train a monkey to recite poetry on a pedestal. Where do you start? Training the monkey or building the pedestal?
The two tasks compete for your attention, your time, your resources. Many people and organizations would start with the pedestal. It’s the easy part. We know how to do it, how long it would take and how much it would cost. Plus, completing it would give the impression of progress towards the goal. Once that basis built, we will then tackle training the monkey.
Which, however, is the hard part, likely impossible, we have no idea how to do it nor how much it would take or cost. While we try, there will be little progress to show. And: If we fail, the most perfect pedestal will be perfectly useless.
In other words, the low-hanging fruit of building the pedestal doesn’t take us any closer to the goal. If we succeed in training the monkey instead, building the pedestal for it is going to be an afterthought.
I am observing this at work in the climate space:
Pedestal: Replacing petrol cars with electric cars. Monkey: Rethinking mobility in an integrated way.
Pedestal: Buying carbon credits to compensate emissions. Monkey: Decarbonising to zero our activities.
Pedestal: Installing solar panels. Monkey: Redeveloping the electric grid.
Pedestal: Eliminating plastic bags in stores. Monkey: Rethinking and replacing all forms of plastic and non-biodegradable packaging.
Pedestal: Recycling. Monkey: Addressing consumerism.
Pedestal: "Greening" an investment portfolio by divesting from fossil fuels. Monkey: Redirecting financial flows in the whole.
Do you have a #monkeyandpedestal story? Share it in the comments.
(Posted on 6 January 2024)
Are You Following a Flawed Script?
In life, we often find ourselves following rules and guidelines set by others. But what if those rules are outdated, flawed, or simply wrong?
Blindly adhering to them won't lead to progress. It takes courage to challenge the norm, to question the established order, and to rewrite the rules.
Don't be afraid to edit the book when it doesn't make sense. Be bold enough to forge a new path that is better and more aligned with what truly matters.
Dare to edit the book and make a difference.📖✍️
#Innovation#ChangeMakers#RewriteTheRules#BeBold#MakeADifference
Practice Makes Progress, But Failure Makes Masters: Why Blugglegroups Believes in Learning Through Doing:
In today's world, we're all looking for that quick fix or instant gratification, but at Blugglegroups, we know that true success is built on the foundation of practice and failure. #PracticeMakesProgress
At Blugglegroups, we believe in creating a supportive environment
where practice thrives and failure is seen as a stepping stone, not a stumbling block. Our collaborative culture encourages open communication, honest feedback, and the courage to experiment without fear of judgment. #LearningThroughDoing
Practice is the key to progress. It's where we refine our skills, build muscle memory, and push ourselves beyond our perceived limitations. But practice alone is not enough. Failure is a potent teacher, providing invaluable feedback, highlighting our weaknesses, and forcing us to rethink our approach. #FailForward
Join Blugglegroups, and let's turn practice into progress and failure
into fuel for success! Embrace the struggle. The harder you practice, the
sweeter the victory. Don't fear failure. It's a chance to learn, grow, and come
back even stronger. Find a community that supports your journey. Surround
yourself with people who believe in your potential and celebrate your progress.
#GrowWithBlugglegroups
Open minds learn from everyone they meet. Cultivating open-mindedness requires an investment of time, conscious intervention, and practice. Learning is a great gift that resides within each of us; some may need to unbox it. Let's continue to learn, evolve, and progress.
#OpenMindedness#ContinuousLearning#PersonalGrowth
How can someone celebrate their birthday with content?
.
By making a lifetime achievement, sharing it with their biggest supporter Eman HamShari, spending time with family, and planning to attend the graduation ceremony in The University of Manchester in two weeks!
Nobody cares!
That is my philosophy in life: nobody cares, except the ones that love you and honestly wish you well.
Those are the ones who truly want to see you succeed, give you feedback, transparently critique you, and follow your path, rooting for your success.
I am so blessed, so much so that I genuinely question what I have done to deserve this support and encouragement.
Next stop? Growing AcceMind and achieving the impact we set for ourselves, building a community of thinkers.
My research is published here: https://lnkd.in/dnbEe69a
Wanted to challenge myself in a new creative way, so I chose something I was mortified about. Writing.
For thoughts on flattening culture, creativity, and attention check out my new substack: https://lnkd.in/eFFbeWh6
Excited to share STEaPP's Bipashyee Ghosh's new article on Transformative Innovation Policy (TIP)! 🌍
This insightful piece explores the vital role of communities of practice in tackling social and environmental challenges. Using the TIP Conference 2022 as a case study, the article outlines a comprehensive framework for building a knowledge infrastructure essential for TIP.
Dive into the full article below to explore how we can collectively shape a better future through innovative policies and practices.
https://buff.ly/46qdXye#Innovation#Research#Sustainability#Policy
Independent Information Services Professional
4moYour own life has been waiting for you. Enjoy the rest of the ride.