The June 2014 issue of Fast Company has a great piece about the 100 Most Creative People in Business. I was leafing through the magazine again this morning and caught an interview with Jerry Seinfeld (#26 on the list.) He was asked why he chose to work on his new offering, Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee  http://comediansincarsgettingcoffee.com/ ? He replied, “The only thing that appeals to me is getting shot into an unknown universe…. The most fun game is one you’ve never played and you’re inventing as you go along.”
Boy oh boy, do I love the sound of that! And as I’ve been remarking on over the past number of weeks, our world is changing dramatically. We are all being shot into an unknown universe and are inventing the game as we go along. And paradoxically, the old world, the safe world, is still holding us by the heels. The same structures, the same old economics, the same old business models seem to make so much sense to us. In the financial world for example, the regulatory environment that saved so much of Canada from the real ravages of the last recession is telling us all to be afraid, focus on risk, and for heaven’s sake don’t move outside the usual way we’ve always done things. And you know what, they are doing a wonderful job, they are safeguarding the deposits of Canadians, and they raising the bar for directors and boards. We need them to be doing that, and they are gripping our heels. We need a balance, and we need the courage to move forward. And it’s not just regulators, it’s boards, it’s executives, and it’s you and I in sectors and businesses across the economy. The world is changing and we’re still stuck in old ways, in large part because of fear.
We need to look beyond the way things have worked in the past. We need a collective shot into an unknown universe. And to prepare us, we need to focus on trying new things. Each and every day, try something you haven’t done. Try a different food, take a different way home from work, change the furniture arrangement in your home, do a different circuit in the gym, say yes to an idea at work, the list is endless. We have all sorts of ways and means of trying new things. The more we do, the more we will change ourselves. And the more we change ourselves, the more courageous we will be. Because the worst thing that has happened for us in the past 20 years is that we are now more afraid. And fear filled people do not make good decisions.
Try something new this week, and find the courage inside to make a difference for yourself and for each other.