I was reminded recently of how important diverse points of view are, and how important it is to embrace the concept of all different walks of life —different ages, types of expertise and expressions. It is such a basic concept, that I find it really strange that I had to be reminded of the power of “blending”, as I was last Wednesday, in a beautiful, Sonoma County setting.
Fast forward a couple of days to this morning, when I awoke to my “happy playlist”. It is a blend of notes that I enjoy, made up of totally different tones, rhythms, and yes, even multiple instruments and multiple voices. Then while steeping my tea, I was reminded that my favorite brew is a green tea base with lemon, grapefruit and coconut oil. What a “blend”!
Ok, sure, you have the picture of where I am going with this. But let me ask you… How are you applying this in your life, and/or your business or organization? When was the last time, at an airport newsstand, that you bought every magazine that you had never seen before? Oh, and yes, ones like the Enquirer and Starr, and even People Magazine, too.
I know this is really old school, but tear out all the articles that could have some remote application to whatever project you are working on, and create a folder of possibilities. There is a great physical sense of going through all of those magazines, knowing this could be the ultimate wood chopping exercise.
Many Sundays, I will do a similar exercise using the Pulse App (without the tactile sense, but yielding the same results.) It may not be immediately apparent, but as you get into your day or week or month, you will catch yourself —multiple times, quoting from one of your articles. Even ones from the Enquirer or the Hollywood Reporter.
As you continue to practice this, you will realize, often, everyone around you has the same point of view, which I find is very typical in a business or organization. Especially depending on how old the company or organization is, and how strong its “mono culture” is. (I will comment in another blog on why this doesn’t breed creativity or innovation.)
The concept of blending different points of view, different ages, backgrounds, and expertise, will be critical for these types of companies to stay relevant in this digital, fast-moving world. Most big companies will just say, “We will acquire that.” Then, when they do, the big culture just sucks the company in, and makes sure it doesn’t survive.
This is not bad news, though, this is really positive news. The reason why, is that you need to shake it up. Be known as the person with the different point of view. Quote your magazines, speak up in every meeting with a different point of view. Purposely, always, take the different point of view and it will serve you well. You will feel empowered. Start blending the people you hang around with. Yup, people you never thought you would hang with. Schedule a coffee with them today. Widen your network to purposely have a very diverse group of people —all genders, ages, cultures. Add scientists, digital experts, marketing experts, life coaches, yogis, spiritualists, moms, artists, beach bums, bartenders, surfers, skaters and chefs, for starters.
Now, this week, start making a mental note of how many of the above list you are interacting with, and learning from sharing with.
These two tools — one of purposefully scouring magazines for different articles about different walks of life and points of view, along with broadening your personal network to have much more diversity — will work hand-in-hand in a magical way.
At the beginning of the blog, I said I was reminded of the power of blending diverse tastes, colors, notes, and sounds with something that I learned how to do for the first time this week. What was it? Blending my own wine, to my own taste, at the Frei Gallo Vineyard in Sonoma.
My favorite was a blend of Cabernet, Zinfandel, Petite Verdot and Petite Syrah —which I worked with to get a flavor that I loved. The wine was so much more powerful and flavorful in a blend, than in any individual varietal I had tasted. This was my reminder for the blog. And now I am very excited to pop the cork tonight. I am going to share my blended wine creation with a unique group of friends, while telling unique, crazy stories, that I will then share with other unique, crazy people this upcoming week. Isn’t it wonderful, how all this “blending” works.
Blend on—
AZ
