Creative Thinkering: Video Book Review
Are you a problem-solver? Do you find yourself struggling to come up with creative ideas? Then I recommend you check out Michael Michalko’s books. I did.
Here’s my video report on his latest book, Creative Thinkering: Putting Your Imagination to Work. (video not displaying? click here).
And, here’s a short summary of some of the keys to creative thinking, as offered up in Michalko’s book:
- “conceptual blending”; making connections and associations between dissimilar concepts… its what the great thinkers have done; e.g., da Vinci, Newton, Einstein …
- “thought experiments”; exercises to stimulate creative thinking, and approach problem-solving in a fresh way
- pattern recognition; our brain is wired to “connect”, a great pattern recognition tool
- the “universal”; observe the relationship between objects, see their common “essence” (as a mediator, this reminded me of the interest-based approach to conflict resolution)
- idea incubation; “we are like perennials”… the value of giving your brain a rest
- perspective; Walt Disney always looked at a new idea from 3 different perspectives – the dreamer, the realist, the critic
- “random” stimuli; as a trigger to making associations and connections
- 3 human traits of creative thinker; intention/desire, positive approaches, daily habits
- “Intention Board”; a place to visualize your intention, desire
- be the subject; you want to be the “subject”, not the “object” of your life
- …
This book conveys complex concepts in a simple, easy-to-understand ways (a skill on its own), and you can take what’s in this book and apply it immediately.
If your work depends on effective problem-solving (mine does; e.g., as a mediator and virtual facilitator), then this book will help you get to the next level, and down the road to making creative thinking a habit.
Hat tip to another creative thinker, Linda Naiman, whose mention of this book on Twitter got my attention. And Vern Burkhardt of IdeaConnection, through whom I first heard of Michalko.
How do you apply creative thinking to your problem solving?
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Ken Kelly: Connecting Communities in Downtown Victoria
Like any city centre, downtown Victoria is a place where people from different communities intersect; residential, visitor, business, service, cultural… Each community is diverse. Residents may be living in high-end condos or in short-term residence at Our Place. Visitors include tourists, local shoppers, and the transient homeless. Businesses range from big bank office to small, independent retailer. Services are a delivered by a mix of public, not-for-profit and private organizations. Culture includes the symphony and the sidewalk busker. And then there is the natural landscape, wildlife…
Recently, I met with Ken Kelly, General Manager of the Downtown Victoria Business Association (DVBA), for a conversation about connecting communities, at his office, downtown. He generously responded to my inquiries. I enjoyed our conversation.
Connecting communities, of all sorts
DVBA represents downtown businesses and property owners. In addition, Ken’s experience is that creating a welcoming, healthy, and vibrant downtown requires all communities, residential, business, service agencies… to work well together, and that’s the approach he takes.
Getting everyone on same page
There are 710 property owners, 1300 businesses, 24, 000 workers, 3100 residents… in downtown Victoria. How to get these diverse people, and communities that make up the downtown core, pulling together? Ken touches on some ways how, in this 3 minute video clip: (video not displaying? click here)
Including points mentioned in the video, here 11 ways to connect and develop downtown community, based on Ken’s observations and experiences:
- Vision; Imagine the future you want, generate “positive, forward-looking energy” that leads you in that direction… e.g., downtown as a showcase for the greater Victoria region, belief that “its everybody’s downtown”
- Partnership; bring everyone to the table, e.g., businesses, police, service agencies, city officials… and work together
- First things first; put all options on the table, then strategically decide… what’s best, what works (note: just like a mediator would/should do!)
- 3 P’s - persuasion, patience, (“polite”) persistence; allow time and space for ideas to be shared and take hold, silos broken down, common ground defined, build trust…
- Diverse and inclusive solutions; e.g., the DVBA Clean Team employs individuals on “tough times”, for a valued community service, in the downtown
- Respond appropriately to issues; e.g., if a small number of individuals are creating a disproportionate amount of damage (e.g., vandalism) in the downtown, a better long-term solution, for both individual and community, safety, stability… might be found through community court vs. provincial court justice
- Keep things vital; keep growing by rolling out new initiatives… being static is the “kiss of death” … last year, DVBA celebrated its 50th initiative, in partnership with the City
- Commitment; as an umbrella organization, DVBA needs to “keep working with as many partners as we (currently) do, and achieve the targets set…”
- Ongoing dialogue/feedback; leads to timely action, healthy, longer-term relationships (= sustainability), and helps maintain the community balance
- Recognize that each community is not homogenous; DVBA provides material support to individual “precincts”, enabling businesses with common interests/needs to create joint solutions (I’ve written before about one such precinct, the Green Collective)
- Learn and build on success; if something worked, can it be replicated?
More about Ken
Ken grew up in Vancouver. He is an urban planner, in training and practice. He has worked from coast-to-coast, and been involved with numerous downtown renewal initiatives, while employed with Heritage Canada. In addition to working for all levels of government, he has taught at two universities, and worked in the private sector. Ken has been in his current role, with the DVBA, since its start-up, in 2005.
His ideas have been influenced by major projects in downtown city cores he’s been involved with; e.g., Winnipeg and Saint John, NB… initiatives in which a collaborative, consensus-building approach led to successful outcomes. I’d be remiss to leave out that Ken feels his family has shaped, in many positive ways, his outlook on work and life.
What do you think?
The complexities and challenges of creating a healthy, vibrant downtown are common to almost all cities. What are your experiences and/or observations? What do you feel/think helps a diverse urban centre connect its communities, and move forward, together?
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Silence: Pattern Interruptus
When conflict is all around, resolution seems distant, and the voices ring loud, sometimes the best way forward is to say nothing… silence.
As a mediator, I’ve found silence can be an effective pattern interrupt technique, a way to break impasse, especially if the parties in a dispute aren’t listening well, are locked onto negativity, the conversation seems to be going around in circles…
Silence may be golden, yet, it can be a tough sell, both to yourself, and/or to others. At times, the pressure can feel enormous, to engage, right now.
Silence can be a powerful signal that something is not right. Rachel Carson’s book, Silent Spring, written almost 50 years ago, re-shaped our relationship with nature, and did so building on her awareness of silence… that things weren’t quite right out there. It is an amazing book. I was deeply moved by it.
There is undeniable power in silence, both on a personal, internal level, in leaving space for personal reflection, and in listening to and/or influencing others. Artists know that. Great speakers know that.
And protesters at a northern California university know that, witness this video… their response to a pepper spray incident the day before, connected with the protestors show of solidarity with the Occupy Wall Street movement. (Credit goes to Catherine Morris for these links)
(video not displaying? click here)
How that silent protest alters the dynamics of protest and violence at the University of California Davis is still to be played out.
Regardless, silence these days, is almost always a pattern interrupt, and pattern interrupts are a way to break impasse.
What do you think of the protesters use of silence?
What is your favourite example of using silence as a way to break impasse?
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CIIAN: Helping Nations build their conflict resolution capacity
Dr. Evan Hoffman
I had a great long-distance conversation with Evan Hoffman this week. Based in Ottawa, he is Executive Director of the Canadian International Institute of Applied Negotiation (CIIAN), a Canadian NGO, as well as being a Faculty member with the School of Peace and Conflict Management at Royal Roads University.
Initially connecting with Evan through Twitter (@CIIAN), I wanted to know more about CIIAN, his work in/out of CIIAN, and especially his international work in peace building. He generously accommodated me.
About CIIAN
Founded in 1992, CIIAN was built upon the notions of peace, social justice, and principled dispute resolution, based in negotiation. An internationally-recognized leader in violence prevention, CIIAN offers dispute resolution programming, through local organizations, in various conflict zones around the world, including Azerbaijan, Bosnia, Columbia, Haiti, Lebanon, Macedonia, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and Crimea. CIIAN helps individuals and organizations, domestic and international, grow their internal capacities for appropriate conflict/dispute resolution.
Working internationally
Evan had just returned from delivering a series of train-the-trainer type conflict resolution workshops in Vietnam. Here are some of his observations, about his work in Vietnam, and international conflict work, in-general:
- One needs to be responsive. Conflicts are always changing, are dynamic, and one needs to be fluid, and dynamic, in response.
- Best practice is to identify local leaders, ask them what their biggest (conflict) challenges are, and design training around those needs. In many cultural contexts, the predominant interest-based dispute resolution model used in the West may not fit; e.g., in villages where everyone knows everyone.
- In Vietnam, Evan led multi-day conflict resolution training sessions, aided by a translator, for local “conciliators”, who then transfer their knowledge back into their own communities. (Check out a couple of photos from those sessions, at the bottom of this post)
- CIIAN focuses on helping the host countries develop peer support networks, coordinated by local project officers, and supported by CIIAN, remotely via ICT, along with some face-to-face presence.
- CIIAN works on an associate model, in collaboration with project partner organizations.
- Good partnerships, and sustainable peace, are built on positive working relationships, trust, and durable agreements.
- Conflict resolution skills are largely transferable.
- Program technology used to deliver programs is dependent on local ICT infrastructure.
Future directions
Looking ahead, I asked Evan how he saw his/CIIAN work changing. His response…
- More simulations, modeling, scenarios, “peace gaming”…
- More experimenting, applying different models, including low-tech models
- Focusing on certain types of multi-national disputes; e.g., natural resource disputes
- Applying best practices, regardless of which country they originated in
- Expanding (renewing?) Canada’s international peacebuilding role
Also, on the topic of future directions, CIIAN, in collaboration with the Canadian Foreign Policy Journal, is producing a special issue on the topic of “Canada and International Mediation: What Role in 2012 and Beyond?” I’m looking forward to that.
More
Read more about Evan, his work and background. He’s been involved in some interesting work, including 5 years (2004-09) as an Analyst and Policy Advisor for CIIAN’s International Peace and Prosperity Project in Guinea-Bissau, West Africa. In addition to Twitter (@CIIAN), you can connect with CIIAN on Facebook.
And you… What insight would you like to share about building an organization’s (or country) conflict resolution capacity?
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10 Diverse ways to build your capacity to appreciate the Other
My first blogging inclination this week was to write a glorious followup to a post I wrote a year ago, on strategies to reduce the income inequality gap. Getting into it, I quickly discovered I may have overstretched myself. Rather than snap, I humbly offer this alternative…
It is through our shared disconnection, that movements such as Occupy Wall Street emerge. Fear of the “Other”, fear and avoidance of people who aren’t like us, inhibits us from working better together, to solve the problems at hand. Letting go of the “why” we fear the Other, here’s ten ways how to build your capacity to get to know and appreciate the Other. I expect some of these may make you feel uncomfortable (they do me). See that as a good thing, and part of the journey.
- Do something together, with the other; talk, work, play… polarization is the death of creativity… solutions will only come if we collaborate… the world is too complex, otherwise.
- Seek convergence; creative thinking is the ability to make associations and connections between dissimilar objects, i.e., you and them.
- Start your joint coming-together with a song or dance, e.g., as is custom in many countries – integrating body, mind, emotion (and maybe spirit, too) will help create meaningful connection.
- Turn the world right side up; what does the world look like when you put yourself in their shoes… our North-centric view of the World is only one view, flip this planet around… what do you see?
- Remember our dead AND their dead; just as we know all about our countries’ dead, repatriated from foreign wars, how many personal stories do you know about their dead?… listen, discover the Other’s story… you can’t hate someone whose story you know.
- What would your grandfather or grandfather say about all this?; next time you’re in a circle with your Others, ask that question. In the bigger picture, we aren’t all that different. Got this nugget via a wise elder.
- Risk for the Other; just as thousands go off to war, how many go off for peace? Give of yourself, in a different way.
- Take the long view; move from the single issue to common ground we all share, from me to we.
- Support women; its not just coincidence that much of today’s divide has come to be in a patriarchal society(s).
- Read good fiction; it’s one way to develop the empathy habit. Here’s why.
What other “diverse” way do you suggest, to get to know the Other?
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Photo credit: Yourdon on Flickr
The Many Perspectives on Aging
A lot happens on the edges. As we get close to the far edge of our life, it’s an opportunity to look back, and reflect on what happened, and be true to oneself.
Listening and interacting with older people (older than me, anyways)… or my elders, as I prefer to relate to them, can be very rewarding. In addition to the people, relationships and good conversation, I often find elders are a source of inspiration, of what’s important in life, what the core is. It’s as if elders can get to the essence of things, peel the onion, in no time flat… something all mediators relish, and which grandmothers are particularly good at.
Whenever I struggle to consciously make connections between people, things, ideas… many elders I’ve known, richly experienced in Life, seem to intuitively make those connections, go with the flow of what matters…
I also discover much about the elder experience through books. I enjoy reading, and it’s a low-stress way to absorb others’ lessons learned. And, given I increasingly find myself in work situations involving elders, e.g., mediations, I’m always on the lookout for good ones… books that is.
Here’s six good ones I’ve read over the last year and change… I recommend each, and every, one.
- I Feel Great about My Hands (And Other Unexpected Joys of Aging) by Shari Graydon
- You Could Live a Long Time: Are You Ready? by Lyndsay Green
- Tangles: A story about Alzheimer’s, my mother and me by Sarah Leavitt
- One Hundred Names for Love: A Stroke, a Marriage, and the Language of Healing by Diane Ackerman
- Intimate Death: How the Dying Teach Us How to Live by Marie De Hennezel, Carol Janeway
- A Bitter Pill: How the Medical System Is Failing the Elderly by John Sloan
The first two books (above) are collections of interviews and short stories. The third and fourth are personal stories, told from the perspective of a family member dealing with an incapacitated loved one. Intimate Death focuses on palliative care. A Bitter Pill is a beacon for new ways of elder care. The first 3 books I talked about previously, on this blog, here, here and here.
For a bit more about these books, you can also refer to my synopsis, of each, below. Did I already say that they are all good!
And you, my readers… What person or book gave you a new perspective on aging?
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I Feel Great About My Hands: And Other Unexpected Joys of Aging: A collection of (40) perspectives on aging, from notable women from across Canada, all over the age of fifty. The author/editor has written 2 media literacy books for youth (I have one of them in my house), and is past president of Media Action, an “organization dedicated to challenging the underrepresentation, stereotyping and sexual objectification of women in the media”. The women in this book bring a diverse spectrum of viewpoints, and backgrounds. The stories are lively, often irreverent; e.g., exemplified with titles such as A Work In Progress, Levity In The Face of Gravity, My Colonoscopy… Overall, the book celebrates the upside of maturity. “It’s all just fine”.
You Could Live a Long Time: Are You Ready?: The author interviewed 40 elderly people & couples from across Canada, folks who were identified as having come to grips with aging (as best as one can). Summarizing the elder’s insights, the book wonderfully reveals paradox after paradox…. Everything from your emotional circle (e.g., “if you have a life partner, you need to figure out whether s/he is a partner for life”), civic engagement (e.g., “by waiting until you have more time to volunteer, you may miss the boat”), work (“to retire successfully, forget about retiring”), body, brain, finances (e.g., “leaving the party well means knowing what will happen after you’ve left”)…
Tangles: A story about Alzheimer’s, my mother and me: I loved Tangles. It reminded me of my own Mom, who had Alzheimer’s. The author writes both prose and comics, and she uses both to advantage in putting forward a compelling story, her personal memoir, about that most dynamic of all relationships, those with our own family. In addition to authentic and masterful storytelling, the book offered me insights on how to move from conflict to collaboration, and resolution.
One Hundred Names for Love: A Stroke, a Marriage, and the Language of Healing: Quite an account. A memoir about the author’s experience, as a caregiver, for her husband, after he suffered a serious stroke. Both are writers. Language was/is everything. This book will interest anyone interested in the dynamics of a relationship when things are flipped up-side-down. And this book will certainly interest anyone who is taking on a caregiver relationship and/or exploring new ways to communicate.
Intimate Death: How the Dying Teach Us How to Live: Marie de Hennezel was a French psychologist working with women in distress and with cases of advanced psychosis when, in 1987, she joined the staff of the first palliative care unit in a Paris hospital for people with terminal illnesses. Her experiences there she describes in this book. She is well known internationally re: the end of life and accompanying the dying. The book is highly accessible, and very moving. The author describes herself as an agnostic. There is an existential flavor to her writing. The paradoxes that come with the very elderly are treated with warmth, and amazing insight. Francois Mitterand, ex-President of France writes the foreward, and also plays a central part in one of her stories. There are many lessons in this book for anyone involved with the end-of-life situations, and/or interested in authentic relationships. Brilliant.
A Bitter Pill: How the Medical System Is Failing the Elderly: If you are a caregiver for a frail elderly person, or know someone who is, I highly recommend this book. Written with passion, honesty, warmth, and 30 years of first-hand insight (the author is a primary care doctor), this book explains why its almost always best for the frail elderly to stay away from institutions, and be cared for at home. Notwithstanding the first line of this comment, I think this book should be required required for all health students, medical professionals, health care administrators, and caregivers. Trust me!
Photo credit: Dok1 on Flickr
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Circles: In Life and Death
We gathered in concentric circles, like the rings on a tree that show its age, in a small community hall this week, to sing songs that celebrated our friend, who had just died. With those in the innermost circle leading the songs, we sang together, folk favourites of the deceased. Combined with other remembrances, food, and conversation, it made for a rich and moving time.
Song circles, like the one for my friend, acknowledge the power of the circle, as a process, a way for community to come together, support one another, and connect to one another.
The ritual of, and respect for, the circle goes back to our cave dwelling days, sitting around the fire. I’m often surprised we don’t apply the circle more, in our work, as a way to solve problems, build relationships, and more.
Sitting around a table, in a local watering hole, a few days ago, with 8 other local dispute resolution professionals, the topic of circles galvanized our attention. Especially, after one of my mediation colleagues told us about some of the organizational work he was doing, assisting employees who routinely work in high-stress occupations. Through 3-day circle workshops, with chairs arranged in a circle, sans tables, a dozen individuals would each share those events that had shaped their life, and once done, relate those events to the way they dealt with current problems and challenges. Listening to stories, gaining insight into motivations, and collaborating on strategies… all done, building on the circle process.
People are continually looking for new ways to problem-solve. Maybe it’s the old ways that need to be given their due, again? And maybe we are coming around more to the value of those old ways… Maybe we are breathing life into something we thought was dead?
For many of us, sitting in a circle, without anything between you and the others, can make us uncomfortable, at least initially. Yet, when I observe circles being used in restorative justice, workplace conflict, in schools, in community reconciliation… I feel uplifted. Could we be trending, here?
Being together in circles is re-connecting with tradition, and what’s more, connecting with our inner calling, as social animals. I’m certain the intention of Google to use circles as the basic unit of organizing people, in Google+, is recognition of the power, and “evergreen” nature of circles.
How about you? Where do you observe circles making a comeback? And, where would you like to see them used more?
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2 Dispute Resolution Conferences that got my attention last week
You need not leave your home to attend a conference these days. Yet, attending a conference, in-person, has its benefits. I had the best of both worlds last week.
On the virtual front, I participated in a few of the sessions offered at Cyberweek 2011, a week long series of webinars and discussion forums, featuring bright lights in the world of Online Dispute Resolution.
On the physical front, I attended the ADR (Alternate Dispute Resolution) Institute of Canada’s National Conference (ADRIC) in Vancouver, October 27-28.
Here are a few conflict nuggets, that got my attention, from those conferences. Hope these interest you, too.
Cyberweek 2011
Mediation diversity; Ian Macduff, a mediator based in Singapore, led a discussion on ODR, The Internet and Contemporary Diversity. It got me thinking about the potential of adapting diverse mediation approaches to one’s own place/situation/context… and what that might look like. In my context, what if the French “social mediation” practice, and the best of the U.S. community mediation models, and the multi-lingual features of my own country, Canada, were integrated. Thinking… how diversity is a path to innovation.
ODR business case; Texas mediator Pattie Porter regularly hosts a program on Blog Talk Radio. She used that forum to host a conversation with three ODR illuminaries, Dan Rainey, Colin Rule and Noam Ebner, around the benefits of ODR. One nugget I pulled from the conversation was offered by Colin… that eBay buyers who went through a dispute resolution process had higher business/transaction activity, in the 3 months following their dispute; an observation that supports the business case for investing in ODR. Another was offered up by Dan Rainey… use technology to search/troll/sort thru conversations for insights… especially useful in multi-stakeholder dialogues.
More than ready; Jo Demars facilitated a webinar on ODR and Customer Support. She sees big potential for new types of ODR applications; in banking, small level insurance claims, document reviews… and that we need to pilot those opportunities in the real world. “People are more comfortable with technology today… surprisingly so… we’re not luddites, any more.”
E-Simulations; Skip Cole believes in the power of simulation platforms. His Sea Change Simulations builds on the open source software approach. His webinar summarized his efforts to-date, along with pointing us to other simulation opportunities for dispute resolution; e.g., People Power: The Game of Civil Resistance, as a tool for learning non-violent approaches to conflict management. Wonder if the Occupy movements played that game?
ADRIC 2011
Aboriginal rights; “They (governments) have failed to acknowledge that First Nations rights are not just like the rights of a Skidoo Club”, Jim Doswell, BC Treaty Negotiator, commenting on the inability of governments to effectively negotiate resolutions to Canadian First Nations (aboriginal peoples) land claims. Another gem from Jim, “we are all tribal, its just some of us are a long way from our tribes”.
Seniors financial abuse; Today, financial abuse of seniors is, unfortunately, more than common. Margaret Easton, of the Meridian Aging Project gave it historical perspective, though… how financial abuse of the elderly has been going on since ancient times; dating back to the Legend of Gilgamesh, the works of Rome’s Cicero in 44 AD, through to Shakespeare’s King Lear… We got lots of work ahead of us!
Culture in mediation; A session from Mediate BC mediators Yuki Matsuno and Shelina Neallani did a session on addressing cultural diversity in a mediation… and how “culture is like a shopping cart… you need to be aware of what you take off the shelf and put in your cart, versus what comes pre-loaded?”… and the importance of somehow tangibly recognizing the other’s culture, in order to create a positive emotional connection.
Mediation and TV; Sharon Sutherland did a fascinating plenary talk about mediation on television, in which she showed clips from various TV shows involve a mediator actor, in a leading role… in addition to Next Door Nightmares, a UK reality TV show which features volunteer mediators taking on the challenge of disputing neighbours. Well, why not!
How about you… what grabbed your attention last week?
photo credit: oceanic on Flickr
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Aging and The Joys of Mostly Good Enough
In a world of be all you can be, I’m getting more comfortable with being “mostly good enough”. There is a rhythm to life. Why fight it. Go with the flow, I tell myself.
Maybe this inclination is nothing more than a gut feeling. A feeling based on 5.6 decades of being, alterations to the body, and the mind, and reading books such as I Feel Great About My Hands: And Other UNEXPECTED Joys of Aging. Edited by Shari Graydon, it is a collection of 41 perspectives on aging, from notable women from across Canada, all of them over the age of fifty.
Graydon is past president of Media Action, an “organization dedicated to challenging the under-representation, stereotyping and sexual objectification of women in the media.” She has also written two media literacy books for youth. I have one of those books, In Your Face: The Culture of Beauty and You, in my home, or rather my daughter does. It was given to her, in her early teen years, by her Aunt. Her Aunt knew something, better than I ever could or can.
Heather-Jane Robertson’s “The Joys of Mostly Good Enough” is the title of one of the stories in the book. She describes that phrase that “is versatile, in that it can describe a day, a life or a haircut. It leaves room for both error and improvement without requiring immediate action on either count.” I agree, and I think it fits nicely with the paradoxical insights that often come with age.
The women in the book come from a diverse spectrum of viewpoints, and backgrounds. The stories are personal, lively, and often irreverent; witness (other) titles such as How Drooping Breasts Led Me To A Truck-Driving Life of Adventure, A Work In Progress, Levity In The Face of Gravity, My Colonoscopy…
Overall, the book celebrates the upside, and wonder, of maturity. “It’s all just fine”.
The I Feel Great book launch gala took place in Ottawa, last spring. Here’s a 16 minute video compilation, of the editor plus a number of the contributors. Honest and funny… (video not displaying? click here)
I think there is much to learn from elders on the joys and ways of mostly good enough.
I dare say… the facilitator, mediator, who seeks to find common ground, would do her/himself well by taking heed to the way of mostly good enough.
The wisdom that comes with aging is there for the learning. One only has to apply it.
How are you learning from the joys of aging?
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Just Enough: Reframing the Paradox of Social Media
Reframing is about changing the game. It’s about how we describe a conflict. There is no shortage of buzz about a personal conflict many of us wrestle with, our struggle to maintain attention, focus, in a world of digital busyness, the world of social media.
Social media is a paradox. On the one hand, it gives us a whole bunch of wonderful ways to connect with others. On the other hand, exuberant acceptance and use of social media can be at the expense of deeper, richer relationships, and our internal life.
Just enough
On Twitter this week, courtesy of William Powers ( @hamletsbb and author of Hamlet’s Blackberry: Building a Good Life in the Digital Age), I came across an artfully crafted video/advertisement, “Disconnect to Connect”, created for a Thai mobile phone company. I say artfully because the potential of art is to elicit a deep emotional response (often felt differently, depending on the viewer), and this video/ad does that, brilliantly. Here it is: (can’t see it? click here)
Apparently, the message at the end of the clip is “use the phone… just enough”. Ok. I don’t know the Thai language. I’ll assume its so. Regardless, I like that phrase, “just enough”.
It’s balance that matters. Powers describes digital balance as “a philosophy that takes into account the human need to connect outward, to answer the call of the crowd, as well as the opposite need for time and space apart.”
As each of us invests our own time using social media, we gain experience with it, we observe how it impacts us. Through sweat equity, and reflection, we locate our own, personal, balance point, for living with social media. And this balance point is “just enough”. (here’s a few books I recommend, and summarize, to help you find your Just Enough)
There is power in a good reframe. Mediators understand the power of a reframe. A good reframe helps us move from a problem focus to a goal focus. When we arrive at our personal “just enough”, we have arrived at our reframe, our response to the paradox of social media.
What’s your reframing of the paradox of social media?
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