Wednesday, December 31, 2008
When I asked people about innovation, two elements seem to drive it. One, the common element of the army and the need to protect Israel. This is accompanied with an amazing hope for the future. Hope for a peaceful future, hope for solving problems and building a safe land.
I came back inspired.
Inspired spiritually and artistically. Inspired to make a difference in this world.
Inspired to have even more piratical adventures.
Tuesday, August 5, 2008
Courage and Pirates
Friday, June 27, 2008
Pirate Language of Innovation
Curiosity pushes Pirates, leaders, explorers, innovators and learners to sail away from the shore into the open ocean in order to find new possibilities. Listen to the language of an innovative Pirate, listen for the hints of curiosity. Does she wonder about life? Does she ask how and why? Does she eschew the familiar path for, perfering to blaze a new trail? Does the routine leave her bored?
How do you find an innovator? Listen for the language of curiosity. This will be the first hint.
Next...courage.
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
Pirate humor
Start with this joke:
A pirate walked into a bar and the bartender said, "Hey, I haven`t seen you in a while. What happened? You look terrible!"
"What do you mean? I`m fine."
"What about that wooden leg? You didn`t have that before."
"Well," said the pirate, "we were in a battle at sea and a cannon ball hit my leg, but the Doc fixed me up, and I`m fine, really."
"Oh yeah? Well, what about that hook? The last time I saw you, youhad both hands."
"We were in another battle and we boarded the enemy ship. I was in a sword fight and my hand was cut off, but the Doc fixed me up with the hook, and I feel great, really."
"Oh," said the bartender, "and what about that eye patch? The last time you were in here, you had both eyes."
"One day when we were at sea some birds were flying over the ship. I looked up and one of them shit in my eye."
"You`re kidding," said the bartender, "you couldn`t have lost an eye just from some bird shit."
"It was my first day with the hook."
Sunday, May 4, 2008
Pirate language of innovation
- Curiosity
- Courage
- Cross-roads
- Commitment
- Chronicle
I will talk about each of these in an individual entry, but will start with pointing out the power of how we talk. Our words create the world we live in. Our words create and determine the flavor and power of our relationships. Or words tell the world who we are, what we want, and what we are willing and able to do.
So it is no surprise that organizations and groups and individuals who are innovative use a similar language; a language that displays the five elements presented above. Innovators have to be curious about the world around them. They have to be "risk-harder" and courageous. They need to see the connections between and across disciplines, they need to have clear intention and integrity. And finally, they have to be great story tellers.
More to come. Meanwhile, drink a bit a grog and watch that sunset on the horizon.
Thursday, April 17, 2008
Pirate Creativity
Thursday, March 13, 2008
Pirate Pearls continue
Well, Curiosity helps. Wondering what is around the next bend, wondering if there are ways to sail better or build a better boat, or wondering "what if?" are all powerful questions.
Charisma helps. This is more about the audience then about you. Do your crew believe in you? Do they trust you? will they follow you? Then you have charisma.
And...be a great problem solver. Meaning be innovative. Invite suggestions. Be adaptive AND have a plan.
A pirate's ability to lead comes from a crew's willingness to follow.
Be the leader they believe you can be.
Wednesday, March 5, 2008
Thursday, February 28, 2008
Secrets for Pirate Leadership
Monday, February 11, 2008
While being a Pirate can be quite enjoyable, all the freedom and adventure also comes with a bit of responsibility. A good pirate captain is only as good as her ship and crew. That means that a pirate is always responsible for growing and maintaining a motivated, committed and innovative crew.
What are the best ways to motivate a crew, any crew? With mentoring, praise, a share of the treasure, and alignment of values.
It is a Pirate captain’s main job to mentor the crew. How can someone handle the rigging or sheets without training? How can someone learn to read the wind and follow the currents without a mentor? Pirates know that it is unfair to grade someone on a task without first training them, and then training them again, and then letting them make a few mistakes, and then trusting and mentoring them.
A trusted crew will rise to the challenge of sailing the ship. A wise captain will notice and praise success. This is not about giving out T-shirts and ribbons for 15th place, or celebrating coming in last even though we tried. This is not handing out random "good job" awards. This is praise that states clearly what was done well so the crew knows what to be proud of and what to do more of. A wise pirate can say: I appreciate the way you handled the sheets in the wind; You did a great job navigating that shallow reef. Specific praise while looking the person in the eyes.
Anyone who helps find the treasure by sailing in rough seas deserves an equal cut of the treasure. Sharing is something that we should all of learned in kindergarten, and something that we need to remember to keep doing.
Share the rum and the gold.
Finally, why would someone sail on my ship if I did not value their efforts and their spirit? How could they be a good crew member if I did not acknowledge the ways that their values were also the values of the ship? Wild seas and capricious winds demand that a crew and captain can work together. A wise pirate makes sure that values are aligned and valued before the ship leaves port.
Monday, February 4, 2008
Black Pearl of Wisdom: Develop a Pirate Mind
Live in the world as it should be.
Invite others into the sea of possibility.
This is my one of favorite Pirate sayings. It describes the pirate mind, a way of living in the world. Too often we humans get stuck thinking from the old reptilian part of our brain. That is the part that responds to change by killing it, eating it, running from it, or maybe have sex with it. None of which really lead to a world of possibilities.
Well, sex has potential.
But the reptilian brain is just reacting from fear. Ask yourself, do you really want the part of you that is afraid to make your decisions, to steer your ship and choose your course? Do you want fear to dictate the treasure you seek?
A pirate mind is one that is open to changing winds, seeing the capriciousness of the world as a source of marvelous opportunities. Pirates are cognitively courageous. When faced with choosing between the lesser of two, or several, evils, a pirate will ask: “what might I invent that will give me other choices?”
So, my fine shipmate, the wind is at our backs, and the world opens before us. What can we invent in our lives that will open up a world of powerful and positive choices for us?
Saturday, February 2, 2008
Why Pirates?
Oh, don’t forget the rum.
This blog is dedicated to that ideal; freedom, fortune and glory for the fun of it.
If you like the idea of swashbuckling your way through life, sailing great ships into unknown waters just for the adventure, watching the sun set and rise over an open horizon…while drinking rum… you just might be a pirate.
I will be posting Black Pearls of wisdom that can be used in any setting to help you pirate your way through life. I know that this is not the current wisdom. According to some authors, one should be able to just dream the perfect life without leaving the comfort of your reclining couch. Maybe that is true, but I have found that no matter how hard I dream and affirm and visualize, I still need a bit of piratical smarts and a dash of grog to make it all work. Or at least to have fun.
So, first black pearl of wisdom is a short one:
Audactiy is a pirate virtue.
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
Leading like a Shaman
The holy woman understood the secret of alignment; we can align with the place and people around us, or pull the place into alignment with our own connection to Spirit. This is such a subtle process that most people do not realize that they are moving away from their sense of spirit and aligning with the surrounding emptiness until the inner sense of barrenness becomes overwhelming. Leaders who are driven by Spirit must face and embrace this challenge on a daily basis; how to remain connected to Spirit, and bring that connection to the out-of-harmony hallways that fill our academic and corporate worlds.
It is easier to make decisions from fear than it is to stay open to adventure. It is easier to create shields of hierarchy than to be visible and vulnerable. There is no true leadership or connection to Spirit, however, if we make our choices from deep within our own fears. It is more powerful to ask ourselves what we would do if we were like the holy woman, aware of our ability and need to stay in harmony and alignment with spirit.
This is the challenge then: to be a Shaman, aware of how the places and tasks, people and obligations, commitments and goals, time schedules and rules tug on us, drain us, and pull us out of our internal sense of spiritual harmony, and yet bring spirit with us as we walk through the empty hallways of our world. If we take the time and energy to realign ourselves with spirit, if we find the courage and elegance to walk and work in that state of harmony, we will find that our hallways are no longer empty, but are filled creative possibility and passion.
Monday, January 21, 2008
Inspiring a Renaissance of Spirit
Why do we seek this? Because, as Joseph Campbell said, we are not looking for the mealing of life, but for a meaningful authentic life experience. It is this personal experience that opens our heart and allows us to embrace our own depth of emotion, that frees us from our mundane quotidian routine. We are lifted above our concerns and worries, all of which seem to become trivial, and placed into the midst's of our personal adventure.
How do we enter this personal renaissance? Not through our minds, but through our hearts. The most exciting and often frustrating thing about the journey is that there are no rules, no always or never, no one-right-way or guaranties, only crative chlices. The guides posts are our sense of connection and joy, and feelings of alignemne with the universe. As a wonderful pirate once taught, "Listen to the singing compass of your heart, and it will guide you to the wonderful horizon." Here is to the Pirate's way of navigating into our own true life.