“If Christopher Columbus had an advisory committee he would probably still be at the dock.” — Arthur Goldberg
As a relatively young entrepreneur I was often told that I just could NOT do things a different way, that I was disrupting the status quo and there were rules ZW needed to understand. At great risk, almost as often as I was told no, I decided to chart my own course and found that the world was NOT flat, business could happen a different way, and that disrupting the status quo did not actually hurt anyone.
Although my #Hustle has not been without difficulty (READ: Not nearly as difficult as crossing the Atlantic in 1492. Scurvy?! — No thanks), New opportunities for DSI are being “discovered” Every Single Day, and I am now able to more fully support my community, my clients and my business partners.
As a proud Carolina Alum (1999), I was jazzed to offer another improv workshop at UNC Chapel Hill this week, excited that my workshop had hit the front page of The Daily Tar Heel, and just thrilled to have the writer (Colleen Volz) communicate the life skills that an improv class can help students develop.
Select Improv Life Lessons
Stay in the moment
Actively listen to your partner
Don’t be afraid to fail
American creativity scores are falling. And the scores of younger children in America, from kindergarten through sixth grade, are experiencing the “most serious” decline. — Newsweek
The potential consequences are sweeping. The necessity of human ingenuity is undisputed. A recent IBM poll of 1,500 CEOs identified creativity as the No. 1 “leadership competency” of the future. Yet it’s not just about sustaining our nation’s economic growth. All around us are matters of national and international importance that are crying out for creative solutions, from saving the Gulf of Mexico to bringing peace to Afghanistan to delivering health care. Such solutions emerge from a healthy marketplace of ideas, sustained by a populace constantly contributing original ideas and receptive to the ideas of others.
AND RECEPTIVE TO THE IDEAS OF OTHERS …
We’re talking about FUNDAMENTAL IMPROV SKILLS! We need to embrace “unconditional support” and the concept of “Yes And” — We need to foster an environment where creative problem-solving and FAILURE are encouraged. You can train creativity but not when we eliminate funding for Arts education and drill students to operate according to the rules of a society still working to produce disciplined factory employees.
It’s too early to determine conclusively why U.S. creativity scores are declining. In effect, it’s left to the luck of the draw who becomes creative: there’s no concerted effort to nurture the creativity of all children. Overwhelmed by curriculum standards, American teachers warn there’s no room for a creativity class.
WAIT A DAMN MINUTE — A study 50 years in the making (started by Ellis Paul Torrance) leaves us to say it’s the Luck of the draw who becomes creative. No, No, No. Not okay. Do we have time to waste? Absolutely not. How many gallons per minute? How many turtles? How many people? How much time? So what can you do to make sure Creativity IS NURTURED? We can train creativity. I do. Everyday.
I am seething. You should be too. Break the glass. Make it happen.
